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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


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CENTRAL  AMERICA 
AND  ITS  PROBLEMS 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


Going  to  War  in  Greece. 
With  Kuroki  in  Manchuria. 
The  Ways  of  the  Service. 
The  Vagabond. 


The  Big  Fellow. 


True  Maya-Quiche  Indian  types 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 
AND  ITS  PROBLEMS 


An  Account  of  a Journey  from  the  Rio  Grande 
To  Panama,  with  Introductory  Chap- 
ters on  Mexico  and  Her  Rela- 
tions to  Her  Neighbors 


BY 

FREDERICK  PALMER,  F.R.G.S. 


New  York 

MOFFAT,  YARD  & COMPANY 
i9H 


Copyright,  1909,  by  “The  Chicago  Tribune* 
Copyright,  1910,  by  Moffat,  Yard  & Co. 
New  York 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  January,  1910 
Second  Printing:  November,  1911 


TO 

MEDILL  McCORMICK 


PREFACE 


DETWEEN  the  Mexican  and  the  Panaman 
borders  are  five  nations.  New  Orleans  is 
nearer  their  farthest  port  than  it  is  to  New  York. 
To  the  average  American  they  form  the  fever- 
stricken  playground  of  opera  bouffe  revolutions. 
But  how  little  he  really  knows  of  a region  which 
lies  at  our  very  doors ! It  remains  almost  the  last 
track  unbeaten  by  tourist  travel  in  the  world, 
rich  in  resources,  its  Cordilleran  highlands,  with 
their  climate  of  eternal  spring,  the  natural  home 
of  a splendid  civilization. 

With  a broader  view  in  mind  than  the  humor- 
ous appreciation  of  armies  with  generals  outnum- 
bering privates  or  of  recurring  disorders  which 
sporadically  attract  our  attention,  in  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1908,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  McCor- 
mick, of  the  Chicago  Tribune , I made  a journey 
through  Mexico,  Guatemala,  Salvador,  Hon- 
duras, Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  As  a journal- 
ist, he  knew  that  people  did  not  care  to  read  about 
so  troublesome  a subject;  but  as  our  foreign 
policy  is  the  result  of  public  knowledge  and  opin- 
ion, it  was  at  least  a good  thing,  he  thought,  to 
give  them  the  opportunity. 

vii 


PREFACE 


viii 

Before  starting  I sought  in  vain  on  library 
shelves  bearing  long  lists  about  Thibet,  Persia, 
the  Congo  Free  State,  and  other  distant  lands 
for  any  recent  work  on  Central  America.  There 
were  many  published  forty  and  fifty  years  ago, 
and  some  later  ones  about  one  country  and  an- 
other. The  lack  of  any  one  dealing  with  the 
peoples  and  conditions  which  I studied  as  a whole 
warrants  me,  I think,  in  expanding  the  original 
Tribune  letters,  with  the  addition  of  new  material, 
into  a book. 

Our  mistake  is  in  associating  the  South  Ameri- 
can and  the  Central  American  nations  in  a single 
group.  They  have  only  language  in  common. 
Otherwise  they  are  as  vitally  and  basically  differ- 
ent in  character  as  France  from  Egypt.  The 
peoples  on  the  other  side  of  the  equator  are  Latin- 
American  and  those  on  this  side,  including 
Mexico  and  excepting  Costa  Rica,  may  be  called, 
for  want  of  a better  word,  Indo- American. 

Ninety-one  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Ar- 
gentina is  pure  white,  compared  to  86  per  cent, 
in  the  United  States.  Eighty-eight  per  cent,  in 
the  temperate  zone  or  governing  States  of  Brazil, 
85  in  Chile,  and  97  in  Paraguay  are  of  white  or 
preponderantly  white  strain;  while  Mexico  has 
only  19,  and  the  five  Central  American  States  an 
average  of  about  15  per  cent. 

There  has  been  a surfeit  of  books  about  Mexico, 
every  one  adding  something  to  the  store  of  in- 


PREFACE 


IX 


formation  about  the  manners  and  customs  of  a 
picturesque  neighbor;  but  too  many,  dealing  with 
general  conditions,  have  reflected  the  roseate  view 
of  the  Diaz  bureaucracy,  which  has  been  niggard- 
ly neither  of  expense  nor  pains  in  influencing 
American  public  opinion.  One  may  safely  say 
that  no  country  has  had  a better  press  service. 
Without  any  intention  of  competing  in  a field  so 
fully  occupied,  I have  included  four  chapters  on 
Mexico,  which,  in  spite  of  industrial  and  educa- 
tional progress,  belongs  to  the  same  ethnological 
unit  as  Central  America  and  has  inherited  much 
the  same  problems. 

Setting  out  with  the  open  mind  of  a philo- 
sophical traveler,  my  first  skepticism  about  con- 
ditions was  overwhelmed  by  proofs  from  un- 
prejudiced sources  and  bursting  in  at  the  door  of 
vision  as  I proceeded.  The  opera  boujfe  per- 
spective was  blotted  out  by  the  tragedy  of  prox- 
imity. Rich  territories,  capable  of  vast  develop- 
ment, are  less  widely  cultivated  and  more  sparsely 
populated  than  they  were  three  hundred  years 
ago,  and  worse  governed  than  they  ever  were 
imder  Spanish  captains-general.  People  a day’s 
sail  from  the  United  States  degenerate  for  want 
of  opportunities  for  education  and  religious 
training,  while  our  missionaries  spread  light  in 
Darkest  Africa  and  the  interior  of  China.  Cul- 
tured families  have  been  decimated  by  political 
assassination,  and  their  estates  confiscated.  Bar- 


X 


PREFACE 


barities  worse  than  those  which  have  excited  our 
indignation  in  Russia  and  Turkey  exist;  and  for 
these  the  United  States  is  responsible. 

Foreign  residents  warned  me  that  either  read- 
ers would  not  believe  such  things  possible  in  re- 
publics, or  else  they  would  say:  “Oh,  well,  it  is 
Central  America.  That  is  a law  unto  itself.” 
I have  taken  care  to  avoid  exaggeration  of  dis- 
tressing truths.  But  they  must  be  a part  of  a 
narrative  of  observation  of  life  and  government 
in  the  most  backward  region  outside  of  Central 
Asia. 

If  the  original  letters  in  the  Tribune , which 
were  also  published  in  the  New  York  Times  and 
the  San  Francisco  Call , have  been  of  sendee  in 
ameliorating  conditions  in  Guatemala  or  else- 
where, the  journey  was  well  worth  while.  Later 
events  have  deposed  the  unspeakable  Zelaya,  who, 
after  all,  was  no  worse  than  another  petty  tyrant 
still  in  power;  but  the  question  arises  if  the  change 
of  administration  will  mean  progress  or  merely  a 
continuation  of  the  old  order  under  another  man 
of  the  same  type. 

The  Author. 

New  York,  December  22,  1909. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE 1 

II  AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 12 

III  MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 23 

IV  THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 32 

V INTO  GUATEMALA  44 

VI  THE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 57 

VII  AFTER  INDEPENDENCE  66 

VIII  ACROSS  THE  HIGHLANDS 75 

IX  THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 86 

X SALVADOR,  THE  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC 102 

XI  ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 114 

XII  MINE  HOST,  DON  ALBERTO 128 

XIII  THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY 134 

XIV  INTO  NICARAGUA  144 

XV  FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA 154 

XVI  NICARAGUAN  HISTORY  162 

XVII  CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA 177 

XVIII  HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 186 

XIX  HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 199 

XX  ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS 213 

XXI  REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION 222 

XXII  TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS 232 

XXIII  MONEY  AND  FINANCE 243 

XXIV  PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 254 

XXV  MORAL  CONDITIONS  265 

XXVI  THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE 277 

XXVII  MR.  ROOT’S  PLAN 290 

XXVIII  THE  FUTURE  299 


XI 


CONTENTS 


xii 

PAGE 

APPENDIX  A: 

General  .reaty  of  peace  and  amity 307 

Additional  convention  to  the  general  treaty 316 

Convention  for  the  establishment  of  a Central 

American  Court  of  Justice 318 

APPENDIX  B: 

Letters  of  Secretary  of  State  Knox,  returning 
the  passports  of  Filipe  Rodriguez,  Minister 

from  Nicaragua  to  the  United  States 330 

APPENDIX  C: 

The  Monroe  Doctrine 336 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 341 

INDEX  343 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING  PAGE 

True  Maya-Quiche  Indian  types Frontispiece 

Corral  of  a country  inn  in  Mexico 10 

At  a typical  Mexican  railroad  station 10 

Coatzacoalcos,  eastern  terminus  of  the  Tehaunte- 

pec  Railway  46 

On  the  Pan-American  road,  Southern  Mexico ....  54 

A street  in  Guatemala  City 54 

An  Indian  woman  (with  ladino  type  of  man  at  left)  68 

Some  highland  belles  in  Guatemala 78 

At  a station  on  the  Guatemala  Central 78 

President  Cabrera’s  company  of  boy  buglers ...  84 

The  Presidential  guard  regiment  in  Guatemala ...  84 

Disembarking  in  a pulley  chair  on  the  west  coast.  . 104 
Amapala,  in  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca,  principal  western 

port  of  Honduras 116 

Among  the  mountains  of  Honduras  along  the 

Sierra  road 126 

Tegucigalpa,  the  capital  of  Honduras,  seen  from 

the  hills 132 

Honduran  cadets,  after  training  by  a Chilean 

officer  140 

Honduran  soldiers  (at  left)  guarding  convicts.  . . 140 

A siesta  day  in  the  Honduran  capital 146 

Old  bridge  at  the  entrance  to  Tegucigalpa 146 

xiii 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Corinto,  the  leading  Pacific  coast  port  of  Nica- 
ragua   158 

Typical  Nicaraguan  soldiers 180 

An  ox-cart  in  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica 180 

A Costa  Rican  school 188 

The  Cullwater  country  of  the  beautiful  valley  of 

San  Jose,  Costa  Rica 196 

A wedding  party  in  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica 204 

A football  team  in  happy  little  Costa  Rica 210 

The  author’s  Honduran  boatmen 228 

At  President  Cabrera’s  door 228 

A stop  at  a Salvadorian  inn 228 

Creole  children  in  Managua 228 

American  foremen  and  Jamaica  blacks  on  a banana 

plantation  238 

Our  mules  on  the  Sierra  road 250 

In  the  plaza  of  San  Salvador  City 250 

Pure-blooded  Indians  of  the  mountains 270 

Formal  inauguration  of  the  Central  American 
Court  of  Justice 294 

Map  of  Central  America at  end  of  book 

I 


CENTRAL  AMERICA  and 
ITS  PROBLEMS 


CHAPTER  ONE 


ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE 


VT  ORTH  WARD,  on  the  plains  of  Minne- 
sota,  Dakota  and  Manitoba,  the  United 
States  merges  into  Canada  imperceptibly.  A 
cousinship  of  blood,  tongue,  institutions  and  ideas 
prevails  in  Winnipeg  and  St.  Paul.  If  the  dis- 
criminating provincial  mind  sees  shades  of  dis- 
tinction, they  scarcely  count  in  the  perspective  of 
the  traveler. 

Southward,  something  far  more  commanding 
than  a river’s  width  or  a surveyor’s  line  marks 
the  frontier.  The  change  is  abrupt  and  impress- 
ive. A dark-skinned  man  in  blanket  and  broad- 
brimmed  hat  succeeds  the  Caucasian  type  as  the 
dominant  figure  in  town  and  field.  Monterey 
and  Houston  are  as  wide  asunder  as  Budapest 
and  Teheran. 

Nowhere  in  the  world  do  two  peoples  meet  who 


2 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


have  less  in  common  in  thought,  manners  and 
customs  or  less  understanding  of  each  other. 
Language  and  race  alone  did  not  form  the  gulf. 
Austria  and  Italy  differ  in  these,  yet  they  belong 
to  the  same  system  of  civilization  and  enjoy, 
broadly  speaking,  similar  governmental  forms. 

We  must  look  to  the  conditions  of  an  inferior 
race,  its  inheritance,  and  its  relations  to  its  supe- 
riors for  the  secret  of  the  contrast  at  the  Rio 
Grande.  On  our  side,  the  descendants  of  one 
type  of  European  conquerors  are  free  from  abo- 
riginal associations.  On  the  other  side,  the  de- 
scendants of  another  type  of  conqueror  are  the 
ruling  minority,  and  those  of  the  Aztec-Mayan 
civilization,  in  varying  tribes,  a lower  and  ma- 
jority caste.  Under  a nominal  electoral  system, 
the  peons  are  the  pawns  of  the  upper  class.  Still, 
the  Latin  graft  must  take  its  life  from  the  Indian 
trunk.  Sheer  force  of  numbers  has  so  influenced 
the  life  and  structure  of  society  that  Mexico  and 
Central  America  are  unique  in  political  and  eth- 
nological character. 

On  the  one  side  is  the  strife  of  parties  and  the 
divisions  of  parties  and  the  talk  of  policies  and 
leaders ; and  on  the  other  is  a man,  his  plans,  and 
his  will.  In  his  veins  runs  the  blood  of  the  abo- 
rigines. He  is  a law  unto  himself,  even  as  Mexico 
is  a law  unto  herself.  Under  him,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  days  of  the  Spanish  captains- 
general,  has  any  section  of  the  country  from 


ACROSS  TIIE  RIO  GRANDE 


3 


our  boundary  to  that  of  Costa  Rica  become  a 
stable,  dependable,  debt-paying,  progressive  unit 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  The  history  of 
modern  Mexico  is  largely  Porfirio  Diaz’  history. 

As  an  exemplar  of  republican  institutions  he 
falls  in  the  class  of  Philip  1 1.  If  you  are  to  judge 
him  by  what  he  has  accomplished,  you  will  find 
an  equivalent  in  that  close  aristocracy  of  the 
Emperor  and  Elder  Statesmen  of  Japan.  Until 
you  understand  conditions  in  the  other  “Indo- 
American”  republics,  you  cannot  form,  by  proper 
comparison,  any  true  estimate  of  his  work.  The 
glaring  fault  of  his  system  is  its  dependence  on 
him. 

With  the  exception  of  one  term,  Diaz  has  been 
President  for  thirty-one  years.  By  law  he  had  to 
retire  at  the  end  of  his  first  term,  in  1880.  Under 
the  regime  of  Manuel  Gonzalez,  who  took  his 
place,  profligacy,  graft  and  folly  were  tempered 
only  by  the  personal  whims  of  the  ruler.  The 
contrast  between  good  and  bad  despotism  was 
ruinously  shown.  All  Mexico  called  for  the  re- 
turn of  Diaz  in  1884,  when  he  changed  the  con- 
stitution so  as  to  permit  a President  to  succeed 
himself.  But  it  was  a mistake,  he  now  admits, 
to  have  waited  on  any  such  formality.  Yes,  the 
father  of  his  people  who  knows  that  he  knows 
what  is  best  for  them  MTas  untrue  to  his  duty  and 
his  destiny  on  this  occasion.  Without  any  sense 
of  humor,  which  some  who  know  him  say  he  lacks, 


4 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


he  has  duly  apologized  for  his  remissness  long 
ago. 

That  adventurous,  fierce  captain  of  raw  militia, 
whose  prestige  in  the  war  with  the  French 
brought  him  to  the  Presidency,  found  a disorgan- 
ized State,  exhausted  by  war,  revolution,  section- 
alism, extortion,  and  the  reign  of  Maximilian; 
with  its  currency  debased,  its  treasury  empty,  its 
bonds  repudiated;  with  only  10  per  cent,  of  its 
people  able  to  read  and  write,  and  its  commerce 
insignificant.  He  was  great  enough  to  foresee 
the  approach  of  the  commercial  age  and  to  realize 
that  without  peace  and  stability,  capital,  the  most 
timid  of  visitors,  will  not  enter  strange  places. 
And  this  was  his  policy : Order  and  the  develop- 
ment of  industries. 

He  made  peace  ruthlessly ; he  welcomed  capital 
generously.  To  clear  the  country  of  brigands, 
he  set  a brigand  to  catch  a brigand.  He  made  a 
national  constabulary  out  of  chosen  desperadoes 
who  knew  the  haunts  and  habits  of  their  kind. 
They  had  their  choice  of  being  the  hunted  in  rags 
or  the  well-paid  hunter,  with  a good  pony,  a 
saddle  of  carved  leather  ribbed  with  silver,  and  a 
broad-brimmed  hat  embroidered  in  gold. 

Let  an  outrage  occur  anywhere  in  Mexico  and 
the  rurales,  swaggering  like  the  cadets  of  Gas- 
cony, appeared  in  the  joy  and  full  cry  of  hounds 
on  the  scent.  Their  personnel  still  belongs  to  the 
class  born  with  temperaments  contemptuously 


ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE 


5 


above  real  labor,  which  would  be  raising  mischief 
if  they  were  not  employed  in  bagging  mischief- 
makers.  Thus  Diaz,  man  of  the  soil,  who  had 
learned  his  cut-throats  by  sharing  blankets  with 
them  in  his  campaigns,  succeeded  easily  where  the 
French  army  had  failed. 

Many  times  in  his  thirty  years’  reign  petty 
revolutions,  without  spreading  far,  have  raised 
their  heads  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  I 
heard  one  old  resident  estimate  that  the  death 
of  30,000  men  stood  to  Diaz’  account.  Such  is 
his  power  that  a score  of  malcontents  may  be 
executed  in  a lot  without  anybody  except  their 
neighbors  being  the  wiser. 

Stories  of  his  high-handedness,  his  tact,  shrewd- 
ness and  w isdom  abound.  Some  of  them  must  be 
true.  A few  examples,  which  are  illustrative  of 
him  and  Mexico,  may  be  repeated. 

On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  asked  by  wire 
what  disposition  to  make  of  a certain  revolution- 
ist who  had  been  captured,  his  prompt,  unex- 
purgated answer,  I am  told,  wTas:  “Kill  him 

while  wre  have  him  in  hand.”  And  perhaps  an 
hour  later  he  was  at  a reception,  to  receive  a 
bouquet  from  a party  of  school  children.  Yes, 
he  is  a self-made  ruler  of  a mediseval  and  Oriental 
type  in  the  days  of  railroads,  telegraphs  and  elec- 
tric cars,  who  rides  in  a French  automobile  and 
organizes  irrigation  projects  and  bids  the  for- 
eigner turn  the  waterfalls  into  light  for  his  palace. 


6 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


He  himself  prevented  the  man  who  shot  at  him 
on  one  of  his  tours  from  being  killed  on  the  spot 
by  his  suite,  and  had  the  would-be  assassin 
brought  to  Chapultepec. 

‘‘Now,  why  did  you  want  to  kill  me?”  Don 
Porfirio  asked.  “Did  I ever  do  you  any  personal 
wrong?  Have  I taken  your  land  or  ruined  your 
business  or  interfered  in  your  family  affairs  or 
persecuted  you  in  any  way?” 

Under  this  gentle  questioning  the  tool  of  the 
plot  told  who  had  employed  him.  The  prominent 
politician  implicated  was  invited  to  dinner  at 
Chapultepec,  and  Diaz  narrated  the  story  of  the 
man’s  confession  up  to  the  point  where  the  guest 
could  see  that  his  host  knew  all.  This  was  the 
only  punishment  that  it  pleased  the  master  of 
life  and  death  in  Mexico  to  mete  out  at  the  time. 
As  the  prominent  politician  drove  home  that 
night  he  must  have  done  some  hard  thinking. 
Thereafter,  of  course,  he  was  conspicuously  loyal. 

Diaz’  Oaxacan  Indian  blood,  his  training  in  a 
Jesuit  school,  his  sufferings  under  the  French, 
his  success  as  a soldier,  all  combine  to  give  him  a 
sense  of  statecraft,  terrible,  if  you  please,  but 
overmastering.  Once  the  people  of  Y ucatan,  who 
have  always  been  restive  under  his  rule,  nomi- 
nated a man  for  governor  whom  he  did  not  like. 
He  sent  word  nominating  another,  who  was 
defeated.  When  he  heard  the  news  he  wired: 
“Glad  to  know  that  my  man  is  elected;  am  send- 


ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE  7 

ing  troops  to  inaugurate  him.”  That  was  suffi- 
cient. The  Yucatecans  had  a recount. 

Probably  Don  Porfirio  has  had  to  kill  relatively 
more  of  the  people  of  his  own  tribe,  the  fighting, 
vigorous,  bartering,  bathing  Oaxacans  of  the 
south,  than  of  any  other.  The  old  convention  of 
a prophet  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own 
country  is  not  reversed  even  for  him.  It  was  all 
very  well  for  that  Porfirio  Diaz  to  play  the  king 
to  the  Indians  of  the  plateau,  but  he  need  not  try 
to  overlord  the  Oaxacans.  They  knew  him  when 
he  hadn’t  a peso  to  his  name;  they  had  seen  his 
mother  spank  him.  But  he  also  knew  them,  and 
at  the  expense  of  a large  proportion  of  their  male 
population  they  learned  the  lesson  that  the  rest 
of  Mexico  had  learned  more  cheaply. 

The  unhappy  Yaquis  are  the  last  expiring 
flames  of  opposition.  One  way  and  another  they 
have  kept  up  a scattered  guerrilla  warfare.  By 
batches  they  have  been  sent  to  what  is  undeniably 
practical  slavery  in  Yucatan,  where  they  die  of 
homesickness  and  the  heat  in  a few  years.  No 
doubt  some  members  of  the  government  have 
made  a good  profit  out  of  this  traffic,  which  is  now 
to  be  stopped  on  the  demand  of  local  employers, 
as  the  few  thousand  who  remain  are  needed  for 
labor  in  their  own  province. 

I did  not  visit  Yucatan,  that  land  of  inordinate 
profits  to  the  henequen  planters,  but  two  arch- 
eologists, Arnold  and  Frost,  who  ought  to  be 


8 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


unprejudiced  observers — certainly,  they  could 
have  no  object  in  popular  sensationalism,  though 
they  may  have  been  influenced  by  the  cavalier  way 
they  were  treated  by  the  officials — wrote  an  open 
letter  to  Diaz  on  Yucatan  horrors,  which  they 
publish  in  their  book,  “The  American  Egypt”: 

“So-called  civilized  Yucatan  is  rotten  with  a 
foul  slavery,  the  blacker  because  of  its  hypocrisy 
and  pretense.  We  have  gathered  facts  which 
make  truly  a sad  story.  The  girls  and  women 
on  the  haciendas  are  treated  like  cattle,  a prey  to 
the  detestable  lusts  of  the  haciendados  and  their 
sons ; Indian  workmen  are  flogged,  even  to  death, 
and  in  one  case  which  came  to  our  knowdedge 
those  who  attempted  to  expose  such  foul  murder 
were  put  into  Merida  prison  without  trial,  and, 
as  we  are  informed,  are  still  there.  For  the 
Indian  there  is  no  justice,  and  at  his  expense  the 
great  henequen  growers  daily  increase  their  mil- 
lions, some  of  w’hich  they  lavishly  used  in  their 
attempts  to  hide  from  your  excellency  the  utter 
rottenness  and  degradation  of  Yucatan’s  social 
system.  If  your  excellency  desires  particulars 
we  shall  gladly  give  ourselves  the  honor  of  send- 
ing names  and  details.” 

Diaz  made  no  reply.  Perhaps  the  letter  never 
passed  the  hands  of  his  secretary.  Unquestion- 
ably, Yucatan  is  the  worst  blot  on  modern 
Mexico. 

The  Yaquis’  and  the  other  small  uprisings  have 


ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE 


9 


been  incidental  to  the  development  which  has  been 
in  progress  since  Diaz’  first  term.  When  he  pro- 
posed to  let  the  Americans  cross  the  Rio  Grande 
with  steel  rails  which  should  penetrate  to  every 
part  of  Mexico  the  limited  Mexican  public  that 
did  any  thinking  became  alarmed.  Was  not  he 
preparing  the  way  for  the  inevitable  Gringo  in- 
vasion and  military  conquest  which  were  to  com- 
plete the  work  begun  by  the  taking  of  California? 

He  knew  better.  He  knew  that  every  Ameri- 
can dollar  that  crossed  the  border  would  become 
his  political  partisan  in  Mexico,  with  its  influence 
on  his  side  in  Washington.  Out  of  the  flood  of 
foreign  capital — nearly  $2,000,000,000  altogeth- 
er— come  with  developed  resources  the  sinews  of 
revenue  for  public  education  and  public  wrorks. 
Through  his  hands  pass  the  innumerable  conces- 
sions; his  the  favors  to  grant.  All  capital  asks  is 
stability.  Diaz  was  the  strong  ruler  who  guaran- 
teed it.  Self-interest  makes  every  foreign  resi- 
dent a Diaz  man.  Every  promoter  of  any  great 
industry  welcomes  a single  head  rather  than  many 
heads  to  deal  with.  Thus  all  outsiders  support 
the  despotism. 

But  American  capital  does  not  have  everything 
its  owrn  way.  Foreign  capital  is  set  against  it. 
When  the  specter  of  a mergerizing  Harriman  ap- 
peared on  the  Rio  Grande  Diaz  did  a piece  of 
mergerizing  on  his  own  account,  by  which  Mexico 
became  the  borrower  of  the  capital  invested  and 


10 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


thus  the  owner  of  the  railroads.  He  is  a friend 
of  the  United  States  because  that  is  the  best  way 
to  be  a friend  of  Mexico. 

Outward  moderation,  at  least,  is  a feature  of 
his  political  career  in  dealing  with  all  except  the 
man  who  takes  up  arms  against  him  and  with  the 
Church,  whose  property  he  confiscated  by  the 
millions,  whose  brotherhoods  were  proscribed, 
whose  priests  may  not  even  now  appear  in  the 
streets  in  their  vestments ; and  the  destruction  of 
the  temporal  power  of  Rome  was  coincident  with 
his  policy  in  welcoming  the  American  railroad 
and  the  American  dollar. 

The  landed  classes,  old  families  of  Spanish  ex- 
traction, to  whom  he  is  a liberal  parvenu,  have 
been  kept  to  his  side  by  the  market  for  their  prod- 
ucts which  he  has  made  and  by  the  fear  of  a law 
taxing  land  ever  before  their  eyes,  though  land 
remains  to  this  day  tax  free.  As  for  the  Indians, 
they  are  Diaz  men  by  consanguinity.  His  ap- 
peal to  them  was  that  one  of  their  blood  sat  in 
Montezuma’s  place. 

Though  he  is  all  political  parties,  the  “ins”  and 
the  “outs”  and  Congress,  he  is  no  stage  despot  who 
orders  this  and  that  thing  done  in  open  authority. 
One  seeking  an  office,  a favorable  judgment  in 
the  courts,  the  overruling  of  the  action  of  any 
governor  of  a State,  a privilege  in  the  develop- 
ment of  resources,  has  learned  to  go  to  Diaz  for 
what  he  wants.  Oppose  him,  and  your  political 


„ *> 

r - 


Corral  of  a country  inn  in  Mexico 


At  a typical  Mexican  railroad  station 


ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE  11 

career  is  finished.  Serve  him,  and  he  may  make 
you  a governor. 

There  is  no  censorship  of  the  press;  but  criti- 
cize Diaz  vitally  and  the  editor  will  surely  feel  his 
power,  directly  or  indirectly.  He  is  generous  to 
editors  who  please  him.  Authors  who  come  to 
write  of  Mexico  find  profit  in  a favorable  atti- 
tude, and  for  this  reason  the  truth  has  not  always 
been  known.  One  of  the  two  American  papers 
published  in  the  capital  has  its  monthly  allow- 
ance from  the  government — the  only  government 
subsidized  American  paper  in  the  world. 

After  his  thirty  years  of  sendee  Diaz  sees  his 
country  with  a standing  army  of  26,000  men; 
with  trade  amounting  to  $250,000,000  annually; 
exporting  more  than  $60,000,000  of  gold  and 
silver  bullion  a year;  with  15,000  miles  of  rail- 
ways ; growing  towns,  electric  lighted  and  paved ; 
over  $100,000,000  spent  on  public  works  in  the 
last  fifteen  years,  and  schools  generally  estab- 
lished. The  Gringo’s  invasion  comes  over  the 
steel  rails  with  capital  and  a hundred  million  dol- 
lars’ worth  of  manufactured  goods  every  year. 
But  conditions  exist  which  may  produce  havoc 
when  Diaz  is  gone. 


CHAPTER  TWO 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


NLY  their  extent  is  surprising,  for  the 


growth  of  American  interests  in  Mexico 
was  inevitable.  A country  on  our  border  with 
an  area  of  767,000  square  miles,  three  times  that 
of  Texas  and  thirteen  times  that  of  Illinois,  with 
a population  of  15,000,000,  manufacturing  little 
for  itself,  connected  with  us  by  great  trunk  lines 
of  railroad,  is  bound  to  be  a market  for  our  goods 
and  a field  for  our  activities.  Our  neighbor  is 
rich  in  resources,  and  we  have  the  men  and  the 
capital  which  she  lacks  to  develop  them. 

The  sleeper  which  you  board  in  St.  Louis  runs 
through  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  At  every  stage  an 
American  engineer  is  at  the  throttle  and  an 
American  conductor  gives  the  orders.  Your  fel- 
low-passengers, mostly  Americans  returning 
from  their  vacations,  are  mining  engineers,  capi- 
talists, promoters,  ranch  owners,  contractors, 
managers,  and  clerks  in  mining  and  railroad  cor- 
porations, with  some  foremen  and  mechanics — 
the  officers,  commissioned  and  non-commissioned, 
of  industrial  aristocracy.  The  Mexican  peon 


13 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


13 


furnishes  the  manual  labor  which  they  direct  in 
behalf  of  the  $800,000,000  capital  invested. 

Whether  it  is  the  man  with  the  moving  picture 
show  or  the  New  York  capitalist  inspecting  his 
smelting  plant,  the  prospector  who  tramps  the 
mountains  and  comes  into  town  unshaved,  foot- 
sore and  dusty,  with  some  samples  of  rock  in  his 
pocket  or  the  mine  manager  who  directs  a great 
organization,  the  type  is  clear  on  the  background 
of  swarthy  Indians  and  cactus-fringed  trails, 
where  you  must  know  a little  Spanish  in  order 
to  ask  the  way  or  get  a bite  of  food. 

And  in  Mexico  you  think  of  the  Canadians  as 
Americans.  A Canadian  who  was  formerly  en- 
gineer on  one  of  the  railways  is  a leading  banker 
in  Mexico  City  and  his  son  is  at  Yale.  One  of 
the  foremost  foreign  corporations,  with  immense 
concessions  for  harnessing  the  water  power  which 
lies  between  the  highlands  and  the  swift  descent 
to  the  sea  in  the  southern  and  narrower  portions, 
is  Canadian  in  capital  and  management. 

Nine  out  of  ten,  if  not  nineteen  out  of  twenty, 
resident  Americans  are  from  the  Middle  West. 
That  great  region  of  the  plains  extending  into 
Canada  sent  southward  the  men  who  built,  who 
organized,  who  man,  and  who  run  the  railroads 
of  Mexico,  and  in  their  train  followed  others  of 
varied  occupations. 

Long  residence  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  leaves 
the  American  more  American  than  the  German 


14 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


is  German  or  the  Englishman  is  English.  How- 
ever well  he  talks  Spanish,  he  is  a man  of  his  own 
community.  At  some  mine  far  away  in  the  moun- 
tains the  engineers  speak  pleasantly  in  passing 
to  the  comandante,  but  with  this  and  business 
relations  intercourse  ends. 

At  Chihuahua,  Torreon  and  Monterey  are 
American  colonies  that  live  their  own  life  as  much 
as  the  foreign  colonies  in  the  treaty  ports  of 
China.  Every  American  who  is  in  Mexico  is 
there  to  make  money,  including  the  Mormons, 
who  may  claim  another  cause,  that  of  marital  or 
religious  freedom.  But  the  Mormon,  too,  is  large- 
ly American  in  his  beaverish  instincts.  He  has 
shown  how  irrigation  and  good  farming  will 
make  luxuriant  fields  in  the  desert.  To  his  work 
we  must  turn,  rather  than  to  the  great  ranch 
owners,  for  an  illustration  of  a wealth  in  re- 
sources, unminded  by  the  listless  peon,  which  is 
more  permanent  than  that  of  mines. 

The  Mexican  still  plows  with  a stick.  He  asks 
his  black  beans  and  the  corn  out  of  which  he  makes 
his  tortillas  (corncakes)  of  the  soil.  The  agri- 
cultural possibilities  of  a land  whose  mountain 
systems  change  the  climate  every  few  longitudinal 
miles,  which  has  regions  without  rain  and  regions 
where  it  pours,  which  grows  coffee  and  wheat  a 
hundred  miles  apart,  await  the  farmer,  either  im- 
migrant or  Mexican,  when  he  will  learn;  while, 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


15 


as  yet,  few  except  the  capitalist  and  his  captains, 
adjutants  and  sergeants  have  come  from  abroad. 

In  railroads,  mines  and  cattle  ranching  lie  the 
great  American  interests.  We  go  for  the  loaves 
and  do  not  mind  the  crumbs.  Though  the  gov- 
ernment has  taken  over  the  railroads,  Americans 
hold  all  the  managerial  and  most  of  the  important 
clerical  positions,  because  no  Mexicans  are  trained 
to  take  their  places.  Thus  far  Diaz  and  Liman- 
tour  have  in  nowise  interfered  with  the  manage- 
ment on  effective  business  lines.  What  would 
happen  if  Mexico  should  have  another  such  re- 
gime as  that  of  Gonzalez,  who  was  President  in 
the  interregnum  while  Diaz  was  out?  Should 
political  dependents  ask  that  these  lucrative  of- 
fices be  turned  over  to  them?  Should  the  graft 
system  accepted  as  a part  of  public  life  be  applied 
to  the  corporations? 

French  and  British  as  well  as  American  capital 
is  engaged  in  mining;  and  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  trace  the  holdings  home  in  these  days  of  inter- 
national finance.  But  the  engineers  are  usually 
Americans,  as  they  are  in  South  Africa  and  Aus- 
tralia. Their  efficiency  and  fame  have  traveled 
as  far  as  that  of  American  dentists.  Their  cosmo- 
politanism is  the  product  of  distant  trails  and 
isolated  camps;  serene,  clear-eyed  men,  “on  the 
job”  all  day,  concerned  in  any  climate  and  under 
any  government  only  with  getting  the  best  out  of 
every  deal  and  every  ton  of  ore  for  the  company. 


16 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


But  scratch  them  deep  and  you  will  find  their 
exasperation  with  the  manana  habit  and  with 
many  petty  official  exactions.  It  takes  time,  red 
tape,  and  much  law  to  accomplish  anything  un- 
less you  can  deal  directly  with  Diaz  or  use  a sum 
of  money  in  a polite  manner  in  the  right  place. 

The  omnipresent  labor  problem  is  complicated 
by  something  besides  unions,  for  the  Mexican  will 
work  only  when  it  pleases  him.  Nothing  must 
interfere  with  any  saint’s  day  or  national  holiday 
or  any  holiday  of  his  own  choosing.  If  he  does 
not  care  to  go  to  work  in  the  morning  he  does  not 
go.  His  grandmother  is  always  dying  by  way  of 
excuse. 

“I  have  one  clerk  who  has  lost  a hundred  grand- 
mothers,” said  an  American  mine  manager.  “Do 
you  wonder  that  Diaz  allowed  the  Mormons  to 
practice  their  religion  in  Mexico?” 

Some  mines  have  tried,  with  little  success,  to 
insure  continuity  of  labor  by  giving  extra  pay 
to  any  man  who  would  report  for  every  working 
day  of  a month. 

The  peonage  system  founded  on  the  reparti- 
miento  system,  prevalent  in  all  Spanish  colonies 
after  the  abolition  of  slavery,  of  which  I shall  have 
more  to  say  in  my  account  of  conditions  in  Guate- 
mala, still  prevails  in  one  form  or  another.  In- 
disputably, the  kindest  employers  are  the  British 
and  Americans,  as  a result  of  policy  or  inherent 
characteristics,  as  you  will.  The  peon  resident 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


17 


on  the  hacienda,  while  in  a better  position  than 
before  Diaz’  time,  is  still  practically  a serf,  and 
well  or  ill  treated  according  to  the  whims  of  the 
owner,  who  is  often  narrow-minded  and  cruel, 
considering  the  Indian  an  animal,  though  he,  him- 
self, has  native  blood  in  his  veins.  Floggings 
may  be  frequent  as  you  please  if  the  local  gov- 
ernor is  willing.  The  victim — and  the  hacienda 
peon  is  very  child-like — has  little  power  of  appeal 
and  less  knowledge  of  how  to  use  it.  But  gradu- 
ally he  is  gaining  will  and  courage  with  the  spread 
of  education.  He  is  by  no  means  in  the  neglected 
condition  of  his  Central  American  relative. 

“If  you  want  a gang  of  men  you  do  not  go 
after  them  yourself,”  a railroad  contractor  told 
me.  “You  speak  to  the  comandante.  He  sends 
out  a certain  type  of  political  ruffian  hanger-on, 
who  knows  the  peons  and  can  bring  them  to  work 
where  you  would  fail.  Then  you  pay  them  so 
much  for  every  cubic  yard  of  excavation.  Some 
days  you  may  have  500  men  and  some  only  100. 
One  Italian  at  home  will  do  as  much  as  four 
peons.”  But  that  is  a much-disputed  point.  I 
have  heard  the  Italian  as  a standard  quoted  all 
the  way  from  one  and  a half  to  five.  Much  de- 
pends upon  the  conditions  and  how  pro-Mexican 
the  speaker  is. 

If  there  is  any  labor-saving  device  you  may  be 
sure  that  it  is  American.  An  American,  finding 
that  one  woman  was  necessary  for  every  eighty 


18 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


laborers  in  order  to  grind  com  fresh  for  their 
tortillas , invented  a system  by  which  mill-ground 
corn-flour  could  be  preserved  to  the  Mexican 
taste. 

The  ingenious  fellow  who  carries  his  wares  in 
a satchel  and  his  fortune  in  his  facile  tongue  may 
sell  an  internal  preparation  for  making  black  eyes 
blue  in  Mexico,  and  an  external  preparation  for 
taking  the  kink  out  of  black  hair  in  the  West 
Indies.  That  irrepressible  American  product, 
the  get-rich-quick  promoter,  not  long  ago  over- 
tilled a temporarily  fertile  field  in  plantation  com- 
panies for  burying  widows’  and  orphans’  savings. 
Waste  your  money  in  any  way  you  please,  but 
do  not  put  it  in  a rubber  plantation  in  Mexico. 
Rubber  grows  here,  it  is  true,  though  not  as  yet 
successfully,  and  never  on  the  plantations  you 
read  about. 

All  types  from  the  railroad  and  the  mine  presi- 
dent to  the  deadbeat  may  be  found  abundantly 
in  the  capital,  which  is  different  from  any  place 
the  world  over  where  Europeans  and  Americans 
form  a colony  among  a backward  native  race. 
Elsewhere  the  American  sings  small  and  the 
newspapers  carry  cables  about  cricket  and  Euro- 
pean politics.  Both  of  the  newspapers  in  the 
English  language  here  are  American.  We  have 
our  revenge  on  the  English  resident  in  daily  base- 
ball scores,  W all  Street  prices,  and  the  latest  sen- 
sation from  home. 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


19 


American  residents  live  chiefly  in  one  locality, 
the  Colonia  Roma.  They  are  a world  within  the 
Mexican  world  that  duplicates  the  business  and 
professional  life  of  one  of  our  own  cities.  A score 
of  social  cliques  gossip  and  compete.  All  have 
one  common  ground  that  makes  them  kin — the 
tourist  of  the  winter  months,  who  disregards 
Spanish  customs  and  demands  that  everybody 
speak  English.  Visitors  who  have  been  in  Spain 
should  train  themselves  out  of  the  Castilian  lisp, 
for  Diaz  is  not  Diath  to  the  Mexicans.  Diath 
is  as  sure  a sign  of  effeminacy  as  the  broad  “a” 
and  a single  eyeglass  in  a Western  mining  camp. 

In  the  halls  of  the  happy  little  University  Club 
hang  the  banners  of  every  American  college,  it 
seemed  to  me,  from  coast  to  coast.  Graduates  of 
technical  and  mining  schools  predominate.  A 
flight  of  half  an  hour  in  an  automobile  brings  you 
to  the  Country  Club,  with  its  golf  links,  on  that 
wonderful  plain  7,400  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  at  the  foot  of  Popocatapetl  and  Ixtaccihuatl 
and  their  eternal  snows. 

At  the  American  Club  in  town  at  luncheon  the 
talk  is  much  the  same  that  it  is  in  a club  at  home. 
It  turns  frequently  on  real  estate,  which  has  risen 
almost  as  fast  as  in  our  best  boom  towns  in  the 
last  ten  years.  Everybody  seems  to  be  holding 
a few  lots  for  a rise.  The  panic  of  1907  reached 
this  tentacle’s  end  of  the  great  financial  system 


so 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


a little  late,  but  none  the  less  forcibly  and  with  a 
correspondingly  quick  recovery. 

Mexico  has  brought  fortune  to  many  Ameri- 
cans indeed — to  newsboys  and  to  brakemen — 
and  every  American  looks  forward  to  returning 
home  when  his  “pile”  is  made.  I met  only  one 
American  citizen  who  purposes  remaining  in 
Mexico  for  life.  Another  conspicuous  exception, 
proving  the  rule,  was  Mr.  Braniff,  who  made  him- 
self a millionaire  out  of  contracts  in  the  early 
days,  became  a Mexican  citizen,  and  shared  the 
general  Mexican  feeling  that  Americans  were  too 
brusque  and  money-grubbing  to  be  companion- 
able and  cultured.  His  son  is  one  of  the  best 
amateur  bullfighters  in  the  world,  who  delights 
to  appear  in  the  public  ring. 

Call  it  provincialism  if  you  will,  the  failure  of 
their  surroundings  to  influence  the  American 
shows  how  set  is  his  character.  Ten  years’  resi- 
dence does  not  change  men  whom  you  knew  at 
home,  except  that,  so  high  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  their  hearts  have  to  pump  faster,  their  energy 
is  slightly  diminished.  The  altitude  serves  as  the 
universal  goat.  If  a man  does  not  like  to  rise 
early,  if  he  is  divorced,  if  he  cannot  pay  his  bills, 
it  is  the  altitude. 

The  larger  commercial  and  industrial  interests 
of  Mexico,  then,  are  American,  with  the  British 
sharing  in  the  mines  and  concessions,  one  of  which 
they  largely  monopolize.  Diaz  has  always  taken 


AMERICANS  IN  MEXICO 


‘91 

care  that  Americans  shall  not  have  everything 
their  own  way.  All  the  great  public  contracts 
go  to  Pearson  & Son.  They  built  and  control  the 
Tehuantepec  Isthmus  Railroad.  They  began  the 
development  of  the  oil  fields  of  the  east  coast, 
which  will  supply  Mexico  with  another  substitute 
for  coal  besides  the  waterfalls  of  a mountainous 
country. 

Though  Americans  predominate  and  half  of 
the  total  trade  is  ours  and  our  exports  are  more 
than  seven  times  those  of  Germany  and  France 
— amounting  to  about  $70,000,000  a year,  with 
steel  structural  materials,  machinery,  furniture 
and  cotton  goods  leading — in  some  lines  we  are 
quite  outclassed.  The  Germans  own  the  big 
stores  and  are,  generally  speaking,  the  bankers. 
There  are  many  French  stores,  too,  and  the  Ger- 
man imitations  cannot  shake  French  control  of 
fine  dry  goods  or  the  English  control  of  worsteds. 

The  Spaniard,  who  first  came  as  a conqueror 
with  sword  and  cross,  now  comes  as  a conqueror 
in  trade.  Your  Catalan  plays  the  part  that  the 
poorer  Hebrew  plays  in  many  countries  and  the 
Greek  in  others.  From  him  all  Mexico  buys  its 
groceries.  He  keeps  the  comer  store;  as  a ped- 
ler  he  traverses  the  trail,  an  unbeaten  trader. 
As  soon  as  one  Catalan  succeeds  he  brings  a 
friend  or  a relative,  who  works,  maybe,  for  no 
pay  at  the  start,  and  eventually  gets  a pack  and 
then  a store  of  his  own.  A few  of  the  Catalans 


CENTRAL  AMERICA! 


become  Mexican  citizens;  the  majority  save  to- 
ward the  day  when  they  shall  return  to  Spain. 

Seeing  so  much  of  the  business  of  the  country 
in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  the  Mexican  would  be 
a creature  of  stone  if  he  did  not  cry  Mexico  for 
the  Mexicans.  And  what  is  he  doing  to  fulfil  his 
ambition?  He  makes  his  cigarettes,  which  he 
smokes  from  morning  till  night,  in  his  own  fac- 
tories, out  of  tobacco  grown  at  home.  In  all  there 
are  over  a hundred  cotton  mills,  which  prosper, 
thanks  to  cheap  labor,  the  favoring  shelter  of 
the  tariff  and  to  plentiful  home  grown  raw  ma- 
terial. With  cotton  and  tobacco  the  manufactur- 
ing account  is  pretty  well  complete,  except  for 
carved  leather  and  the  handiwork  of  Mexican 
articles  to  sell  to  tourists,  and  the  packing  plants, 
which  are  mostly  run  by  foreign  capital  and 
under  foreign  management.  But  these  facts  only 
strengthen  the  rising  patriotic  sentiment  which  is 
the  most  vital  and  threatening  political  factor  of 
the  future. 


CHAPTER  THREE 


MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 

TN  the  old  days  the  hacienda  owners  lived  like 
A feudal  lords — as  they  still  do  to  a great 
extent — while  the  peon  lived  and  died  in  practical 
slavery  on  the  land  of  his  master.  Until  thirty 
years  ago  scarcely  a peon  could  read  or  write. 
The  Spanish  conquest  had  taught  him  docility, 
and  the  only  light  in  his  brain  was  the  dim  mem- 
ory of  his  ancient  civilization. 

All  that  the  big  land  owners  cared  for  was  their 
income  and  to  keep  their  land  tax  free.  They 
had  no  interest  in  industrial  development  and 
no  real  sense  of  nationality.  Their  hearts  were 
always  in  Paris.  So  regeneration  for  Mexico 
could  never  come  from  this  class.  The  new 
Mexico  born  after  the  French  regime  was  bound 
to  find  its  leader  in  the  underlying  strata  which 
produced  Juarez  and  later  Diaz. 

Poor  clay  this  peon  seems ; a creature  of  many 
tribes  and  many  dialects,  with  no  common  lan- 
guage except  Spanish.  In  the  lowlands  he  is 
temperate,  clean  and  excitable,  as  a rule.  On  the 
great  central  plateau,  where  the  maguey  plant 

23 


24 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


will  grow — from  5,000  to  7,000  feet  above  sea 
level — he  is  too  often  in  a half-drunken  stupor 
on  its  juice.  His  only  property  is  his  blanket  and 
his  hat.  Whatever  he  has  in  the  world  he  shares 
with  his  fellows,  and  he  need  never  go  hungry  if 
there  are  tortillas  (corncakes)  or  frijoles  (black 
beans)  in  a neighbor’s  house. 

Both  the  men  of  the  plateau  and  the  men  of 
the  lowlands  are  gradually  ascertaining  that  they 
are  all  Mexicans,  all  brown-skinned  and  black- 
haired. Railroad  travel  and  pilgrimages  have 
brought  them  together.  The  demands  of  fac- 
tories and  mines  have  sent  them  to  town,  and  in 
the  towns  are  schools.  It  may  be  too  much  to 
say  that  the  peon  is  beginning  to  think;  but  no 
one  will  deny  that  he  has  an  irritation  under  his 
scalp  that  may  eat  into  the  cerebrum. 

“We’ll  drive  out  all  these  Spaniards  some  day,” 
an  old  native  said,  meaning  all  foreigners.  “This 
is  our  country”;  by  which  he  meant  the  country 
of  the  Aztecs. 

Groping  intelligence  makes  the  discovery  that 
in  the  land  that  is  theirs  they  are  servants  to  the 
outsiders;  for  even  the  hacienda  owners  they  do 
not  regard  as  Mexicans.  If  they  board  a train 
a Gringo  takes  their  tickets.  When  they  seek 
work  at  the  mines  or  of  a contractor  it  is  a for- 
eigner who  employs  them. 

No  hero  of  the  war  for  “La  Libertad”  equals 
in  their  veneration  the  last  of  the  Aztec  kings, 


MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 


25 


whose  statue  they  adorn  on  Aztec  feast  days. 
Liberty  they  associate  less  with  independence 
from  Spain  in  1816  than  with  the  advent  of  that 
“little  Indian”  Juarez,  the  first  President  after 
Maximilian. 

Any  one  with  money  invested  in  Mexico  says 
that  the  anti-foreign  feeling  is  only  newspaper 
talk.  But  the  sensational  press  does  not  preach 
unless  it  finds  an  audience.  Anti-Americanism 
has  long  been  a cardinal  feature  of  the  propa- 
ganda of  the  clerical  party.  In  order  to  regain 
power,  the  Church,  with  its  property  confiscated 
and  brotherhoods  proscribed,  attacks  the  northern 
neighbor,  where  religious  freedom  is  absolute. 

Pulling  a feather  out  of  the  eagle’s  tail  is  held 
to  be  as  profitable  in  politics  in  Mexico  as  twist- 
ing the  lion’s  tail  once  was  in  the  States.  Dur- 
ing my  visit  occurred  the  Uruapam  bunting  inci- 
dent, which  possibly  got  three  or  four  lines  in 
the  newspapers  at  home.  To  Mexico  it  was  a 
burning  question. 

What  happened,  as  far  as  I could  leam,  was 
this:  Three  irresponsible  young  men,  employees 
of  a packing  company,  as  a practical  joke  dressed 
up  a neighbor’s  horse  in  as  outlandish  a fashion 
as  caprice  and  material  would  allow.  Among 
other  things  they  used  a piece  of  discarded  and 
faded  bunting  which  had  been  draped  on  the 
packing  house  at  the  time  of  its  opening.  Now, 
the  bunting  fell  off,  and  some  natives  of  Urua- 


26 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


pam  saw  their  national  colors  under  the  horse’s 
hoofs.  The  uproar  that  the  Mexicans  made  over 
it  shows  their  sensitiveness. 

To  us  the  whole  incident  seems  insignificant. 
To  them  it  was  another  example  of  Gringo  ruf- 
fianism and  a calculated  insult  to  the  nation.  The 
culprits  were  put  in  jail.  Indignation  ran  high. 
N ot  content  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  local  court, 
a petition  was  sent  to  Diaz,  the  source  of  all 
power,  asking  for  dire  punishment  of  the  offend- 
ers. He  thanked  the  signers  for  their  “patriotic” 
address  and  expressed  confidence  in  the  court. 
The  accused  issued  a public  statement  of  contrite 
apology,  declaring  their  innocence  of  any  of  the 
intentions  ascribed  to  them — for  Mexican  jails 
are  not  pleasant — and  finally  Diaz  “advised” 
their  release. 

Americanophobia  is  not  limited  to  the  crowd 
alone.  It  permeates  every  class  of  Mexican  so- 
ciety. The  peon  himself,  let  alone  the  better- 
class  Mexican,  is  a grandee  for  politeness,  and  our 
brusqueness  is  disagreeable  to  a people  to  whom 
manner  is  as  important  as  the  thing  itself,  and 
this  is  intensified  by  fear  of  our  power.  It  is  a 
common  saying  that  when  General  Scott’s  army 
was  in  occupation  “the  Americans  were  brutal, 
but  just.”  They  punished  their  own  soldiers  as 
rigorously  for  looting  as  they  punished  the  na- 
tives. “The  French  were  cruel  and  uneven,  but 
polite.”  One  almost  wonders  if  the  Mexican  tern- 


MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 


27 


perament  did  not  prefer  cruelty  with  politeness  to 
justice  with  impoliteness. 

No  Mexican  doubts  that  we  mean  conquest 
in  the  end.  The  wiser  ones  reason  that  it  is  inevi- 
table to  our  growth  and  our  aggressive  nature. 
The  others  take  it  for  granted.  Our  protesta- 
tions only  confirm  their  conviction  of  our  hy- 
pocrisy. Statesmen  are  equally  guilty  with  the 
tourist  of  well-meaning  words  which  are  mistaken 
for  patronage. 

“We  don’t  want  Mexico,”  they  say,  and  they 
may  even  add:  “We  wouldn’t  take  Mexico  if 

you  gave  it  to  us.”  It  is  like  a big  man  meeting 
a little  man  in  the  street  and  saying:  “I’m  not 
going  to  thrash  you  just  because  you’re  little. 
Now,  how  about  that  concession?” — which  is 
bound  to  annoy  the  little  man  if  he  is  of  a sensi- 
tive nature. 

The  speeches  at  formal  banquets  ring  with  the 
muy  sympatico  of  the  “sister  republics”;  but  all 
the  Americans,  including  those  who  speak  Span- 
ish, go  home  together,  and  so  do  all  the  Mexicans, 
including  those  who  speak  English.  The  intel- 
lectual classes  look  entirely  to  France  and  Spain 
for  their  inspiration.  French  and  Spanish  papers 
and  books  and  illustrated  weeklies  are  on  the  li- 
brary tables.  English  is  only  the  business  tongue. 
The  few  Mexican  boys  who  study  in  the  States 
go  there  for  technical  instruction  and  for  a lan- 
guage that  will  be  commercially  valuable. 


28 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  father’s  theory  in  this  case  is  that  Ameri- 
cans know  how  to  make  money,  and  America  is 
the  place  to  learn  that  valuable  trade.  It  does  not 
occur  to  him  that  there  is  an  ethical  side  to  Ameri- 
can life.  He  sees  the  American  colony  busy  after 
concessions  and  with  the  day’s  work;  and  gen- 
erally speaking,  we  are  disinclined  to  give  him 
any  other  view  of  ourselves,  and  he  is  disinclined 
that  we  should  have  any  view  of  him  except  one 
formed  in  business  relations. 

Official  Mexico  denies  that  there  is  any  anti- 
American  feeling.  Diaz  is  too  good  a statesman 
to  allow  any  outburst  to  rise  in  such  a tumult  in 
his  time  that  he  cannot  control  it.  He  could  stop 
the  newspaper  agitation  if  he  would.  But  it  is 
one  of  the  many  strings  to  his  bow,  on  which  he 
plays  the  tune  of  national  and  patriotic  unity. 

Limantour,  the  finance  minister,  pooh-poohs 
it  as  “local  politics”;  the  while  he  aims  to  bring 
European  immigration  into  the  northern  States 
to  combat  that  from  the  United  States  and  sets 
the  European  against  the  American  with  a skill 
worthy  of  his  reputation.  The  minister  of  the 
interior,  Senor  Olegario  Molina,  however,  is 
openly  known  as  an  Americanophobe.  He  pro- 
posed a radical  new  mining  law,  for  which  Diaz, 
whose  hint  is  the  law  of  action  for  all  his  cabinet, 
would  not  stand  till  it  had  been  tried  by  American 
opinion. 

Abstractly,  this  law  seemed  most  reasonable. 


MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 


29 


Opposition  from  our  country,  where  the  rules 
against  foreign  ownership  of  land  or  mines  are 
so  strict,  would  seem  convincing  proof  of  the 
Mexican  contention  that  we  propose  to  dominate 
Mexico  where  it  suits  our  interests.  For  all  that 
the  proposed  law  required  was  that  hereafter  all 
corporations  doing  business  in  Mexico  should  be 
organized  under  Mexican  law. 

In  other  words,  a corporation  organized  in 
New  Jersey  or  Arizona  could  not  buy  and  work  a 
Mexican  mine.  The  opposition  of  all  foreign 
interests  was  immediate  and  outspoken.  Cor- 
poration managers  knew'  the  delays  of  Mexican 
law  and  the  exasperation  of  dealing  with  officials. 
There  is  no  escaping  the  fact  that  foreign  capital 
would  generally  shy  at  a Mexican  corporation. 

When  Diaz,  the  wise  politician  who  never  tries 
to  go  too  fast  in  his  development  of  nationalism, 
saw  what  a storm  of  opposition  this  theoretically 
justifiable  act  of  jingoism  was  raising,  he  acted 
as  he  did  about  the  flag  incident;  as  he  always 
does  on  such  occasions.  He  had  the  objection- 
able feature  withdrawn. 

Those  who  shout  Mexico  for  the  Mexicans  have 
to  consider  that  once  the  entering  flood  of  capital 
is  dammed,  an  economic  revolution  is  inevitable. 
It  is  the  new  investments  that  balance  Mexico’s 
ledger,  despite  her  immense  export  of  silver. 
They  are  the  secret  of  her  prosperity,  of  an  over- 
flowing treasury  with  which  she  builds  great  pub- 


30 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


lie  works ; for  her  wealth  of  agricultural  resources 
does  not  prevent  her  from  being  an  importer  of 
foodstuffs.  Her  annual  trade,  one-fifth  of  which 
consists  of  exports  of  metals,  gives  her  a balance 
less  than  her  national  interest  charges  abroad, 
while  the  interest  on  the  foreign  capital  invested 
must  be  at  least  $75,000,000  a year. 

There  you  have  the  weak  point  in  Senor  Liman- 
tour’s  system,  which  looks  so  strong  because  of 
his  excess  of  receipts  over  expenditures.  Let 
the  silver  and  gold  keep  on  flowing  out  to  return 
the  foreign  principal  and  pay  the  interest  charges 
while  no  new  capital  flows  in,  and  the  veteran 
finance  minister  will  face  a harder  problem  than 
he  has  yet  solved. 

In  trying  to  do  for  his  country  what  the  Elder 
Statesmen  did  for  Japan  in  bringing  foreign  civi- 
lization and  teachers,  Diaz  counted  with  a differ- 
ent type  of  people  for  his  host.  The  Mexicans 
themselves — who  fail  to  learn  what  the  Japanese 
were  so  eager  to  learn — make  Mexico  for  the 
Mexicans  impossible.  Her  young  men,  who  imi- 
tate French  manners,  have  failed  to  imitate 
French  civilization  in  its  engineers,  promoters, 
mechanics,  and  thrifty,  trained  industrialism. 
They  go  to  the  technical  schools  and  learn  theory 
and  hesitate  at  the  hard  application  that  practice 
requires.  A Mexican  boy  of  any  education  who 
will  apprentice  himself  to  learn  railroading  is  an 
anomaly. 


MEXICO  FOR  THE  MEXICANS 


31 


Among  the  better  classes  there  is  Castilian  con- 
tempt for  business.  They  would  rather  be  gov- 
ernment clerks  or  dependents  on  a hacienda  than 
mine  managers  at  $10,000  a year,  which,  besides, 
requires  harder  work  than  they  like.  If  a 
Mexican  sells  a mine  he  puts  his  money  into  land. 
His  only  form  of  gambling  is  lottery  tickets. 
There  is  less  stock  speculation  (by  Mexicans)  in 
Mexico  City  than  in  many  American  towns  of 
20,000  people. 

The  love  of  risk,  of  action  for  a splendid  stake, 
so  characteristic  of  the  Japanese,  which  leads 
the  American,  the  Englishman,  the  Frenchman 
and  the  German  into  industrial  undertakings, 
is  not  in  the  Mexican — at  least,  not  yet.  Mines 
and  railroads  and  banks  and  stores  are  managed 
by  foreigners  because  they  are,  for  the  present, 
at  least,  best  suited  for  the  work.  Any  measure 
which  retards  foreign  enterprise  retards  Mexican 
development  along  the  lines  of  a policy  which 
Diaz  has  carried  too  far  to  permit  of  any  back- 
ward step  without  results  equally  as  serious  to 
Mexico  as  to  the  foreigner. 


CHAPTER  FOUR 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 

T"\IAZ  has  been  the  creator  of  Mexico’s  for- 
eign  policy;  Don  Ignacio  Mariscal  its 
spokesman.  Theirs  is  a rare  political  friendship, 
with  a human  note  to  soften  jealousy.  The 
watchful  President,  never  allowing  any  one  man 
to  gain  a larger  share  of  power  than  some  rival 
for  favor,  has  entertained  no  suspicions  of  Don 
Ignacio,  his  minister  of  foreign  affairs  from 
the  beginning  of  his  rule. 

Don  Ignacio  never  bothers  his  head  with  this 
complicated  business  of  home  politics.  His  con- 
cern is  with  Mexico’s  relations  with  the  outside 
world.  The  late  John  Hay  once  said  that  one 
could  not  boast  of  his  triumphs  in  diplomacy  or 
in  love.  A foreign  minister’s  reward  must  come 
from  the  praise  of  his  chief  and  his  consciousness 
of  success;  and  such  is  Don  Ignacio’s  reward. 

After  Don  Porfirio  was  through  fighting  the 
French  with  the  sword,  Don  Ignacio  began  his 
battle  of  peace.  This  pair  have  grown  old  to- 
gether, watching  their  country  become  strong  and 
respected  under  their  direction.  Don  Ignacio 

33 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


33 


loves  his  Mexico  and  every  little  victory  he  has 
won  for  her.  He  has  the  art  which  conceals  art. 
The  pleasure  of  having  met  and  talked  with  this 
veteran  of  early  Victorian  days — his  old-fash- 
ioned jelly- roll  of  hair  over  his  ears  and  his 
dancing  eyes  recalling  Disraeli  without  the  Jew- 
ish cast  of  countenance — will  ever  remain  a ro- 
mantic memory  to  a younger  man. 

“Yes,  I have  been  with  General  Diaz  thirty 
years,”  he  said,  “but,  then,  we  knew  each  other 
pretty  well  in  the  days  when  we  were  having  so 
much  trouble  with  those  Frenchmen  who  wanted 
our  country.  But  they  did  not  want  it  as  much, 
they  found,  as  we  wanted  it  ourselves.  So  we 
kept  it. 

“Every  time  the  general  is  re-elected  I go  to 
him  and  say:  ‘Excellency,  it  is  quite  scandalous. 
I am  a regular  old  fossil’  ” — when  you  know  that 
he  is  living  keenly  evenr  minute  in  the  present. 
“ ‘Think  how  mean  it  is  of  me  never  to  give  any 
of  those  new  men  a chance.  I am  going  to  retire.’ 
But  the  general  says:  ‘We  old  fellows  will  ask 
those  young  fellows  to  wait  a little  longer.  I 
can’t  get  along  without  3rou.’  So  I remain  and 
feel  ashamed  of  my  selfishness.  Yes,  General 
Diaz  and  I have  been  in  harness  a long  time,  and 
since  Mr.  Fish  and  I used  to  exchange  dispatches 
you  have  had  a great  many  Secretaries  of  State 
in  your  country.” 

Oh,  he  was  ever  so  sorry  that  Mexico  could 


34 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


not  allow  us  a coaling  station  at  Magdalena  Bay; 
but  that  was  against  the  Mexican  Constitution 
(which  Don  Porfirio  has  so  frequently  disregard- 
ed in  home  politics).  It  was  too  bad,  too,  not  to 
permit  our  sailors  to  have  a little  harmless  small- 
arms  practice  ashore,  but  there,  again,  was  that 
Constitution ! We  have  one  of  our  own  and  sure- 
ly we  know  for  ourselves  how  bothersome  Con- 
stitutions may  be  when  you  wish  to  do  a friend 
a favor. 

He  has  ever  kept  relations  running  smoothly 
with  that  brusque  and  mighty  northern  neighbor, 
watchful,  in  keeping  with  his  duty,  to  prevent 
any  entering  wedge  of  aggression.  Diplomacy, 
winning  the  favor  of  foreign  nations  for  the  dis- 
credited Mexico  of  thirty  years  ago,  has  been  the 
ally  of  Jose  Yves  Limantour,  the  master-mind 
of  financial  Mexico.  No  one  in  modern  times, 
unless  it  was  Witte  in  Russia  for  a period,  has 
enjoyed  anything  like  the  authority  which  has 
been  his  for  fifteen  years.  He  would  be  impossi- 
ble in  any  other  country.  How  long,  for  exam- 
ple, would  the  business  man  of  the  States  or  of 
northern  Europe  endure  a system  of  stamp  taxes 
according  to  the  amount  of  business  done,  open- 
ing his  books  to  government  agents,  while  land 
never  pays  a penny?  One-third  of  the  revenue 
comes  from  stamps,  of  which  foreign  capital  pays 
a heavy  share. 

Congress  does  not  bother  him  with  questions. 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


35 


He  need  not  fear  public  criticism.  The  great 
majority  of  the  Mexicans  are  too  unintelligent  to 
understand  or  consider  such  a thing  as  a fiscal 
policy.  Without  even  the  interference  of  a board 
of  directors,  he  is  responsible  only  to  Diaz,  whose 
wisdom  says  “Steady”  and  “Go  ahead.”  He 
could  undertake  a policy  with  a certainty  that  he 
could  see  it  carried  through,  rather  than  with  the 
expectation  that  a successor  might  reverse  it 
inside  of  six  months  or  a year. 

It  is  the  sum  of  what  has  been  done  in  his 
1 long  service  that  pays  a tribute  to  the  man  rather 
than  to  the  nation.  He  has  put  Mexico  on  a gold 
basis  and  her  bonds  at  a premium.  He  has  spent 
out  of  the  money  he  has  borrowed  from  abroad 
over  $30,000,000  in  improving  and  building  har- 
bor works  at  Vera  Cruz,  Salina  Cruz,  Manza- 
nillo and  Tampico,  and  $8,000,000  on  the  drain- 
age of  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  He  can  say  to  his 
fellow-countrymen,  as  Warren  Hastings  said  to 
Parliament,  that  he  is  amazed  at  his  modesty 
when  he  considers  his  temptations.  A rich  man 
when  he  took  office,  he  will  be  much  richer  when 
he  retires. 

Of  course,  Diaz,  too,  has  a great  fortune,  a 
fortune  in  keeping  with  his  dignity  and  position 
and  the  work  he  has  done  for  his  country,  as  his 
friends  say.  But  it  is  he  who  has  set  the  example 
of  moderation,  which  the  Central  American  dic- 
tators, who  imagine  that  they  imitate  him,  have 


36 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


failed  to  follow.  He  has  read  aright  the  folly  of 
Iturbide  and  other  rulers  of  Mexico’s  turbulous 
history  from  independence  to  Maximilian.  His 
taste  is  for  power,  not  for  extravagance.  Lead- 
ing his  soldiers,  he  imbibed  a spirit  of  service  and 
learned  of  rewards  and  satisfactions  higher  than 
gain.  No  cabinet  minister  may  profit  scanda- 
lously. He  aims  to  check  the  rapacity  of  the 
commissions  of  governors  and  other  officials  who 
look  for  more  than  their  portions. 

In  his  well-arranged  day  of  twelve  busy  hours 
there  is  always  time  for  foreign  visitors.  Men 
are  the  books  which  he  is  fondest  of  studying.  At 
Chapultepec  I waited  in  a Maximilian  ante- 
chamber, while  I chatted  with  a pattern-plate 
aide,  Spanish  in  courtesy  plus  German  train- 
ing. When  my  turn  came  he  led  the  way  to  the 
Maximilian  salon,  and  the  most  absolute  ruler 
in  Christendom  entered  with  a quick,  light  step. 
His  bearing  gives  him  a height  greater  than  his 
inches.  He  is  as  erect  as  one  of  his  cadets,  his 
head  carried  well  back,  with  that  leonine  expres- 
sion which  characterizes  the  photograph  of  him 
which  is  the  favorite  of  his  people.  His  dignity 
is  something  more  than  Castilian.  It  is  not  a 
veneer.  It  runs  through  the  fiber. 

You  feel  none  of  that  disappointment  so  usual 
when  prestige  and  position  have  built  up  a figure, 
only  to  have  it  dwindle  to  an  ordinary-looking 
mortal  on  close  observation.  After  what  you 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


37 


have  seen  of  Mexico,  Diaz  is  up  to  expectations. 
The  sense  of  power  and  command  of  men  is 
there,  inherent  and  impressive  at  the  first  glance. 
Break  out  of  the  commonplaces  of  a formal  in- 
terview with  some  vital  question  that  arouses  him, 
and  that  carved,  square  jaw  rises  and  the  black 
eyes  burn  in  a way  that  suggests  the  Indian 
fierceness  of  his  soldier  days.  He  is  an  Indian; 
he  is  of  the  soil;  and  this  is,  possibly,  the  secret  of 
his  strength.  The  peons  hold  him  in  awe  and 
reverence.  lie  is  almost  a god  to  them.  When 
he  is  in  a crowd  you  will  see  them  rushing  forward 
in  the  hope  that  they  may  touch  his  hand  or  even 
his  coat. 

He  grows  proud  of  his  years.  When  I re- 
marked that  he  was  seventy-eight  he  answered 
that  he  was  nearly  seventy-nine.  He  owes  his 
good  health,  he  says,  to  his  Indian  constitution 
and  to  simple  living.  His  routine  of  life  is  as 
severe  as  a monk’s,  his  food  most  frugal. 
Formerly  he  took  a horseback  ride  every  day,  but, 
convinced  of  the  danger  of  a fall,  he  has  given 
it  up. 

Xo  ruler  has  ever  been  the  object  of  more 
flattery,  and  few  better  able  to  see  through  its 
purpose  than  he  in  his  younger  days.  Self-criti- 
cism is  not  included  in  the  ban  of  criticism  by 
press  and  Congress.  But  it  would  be  surpris- 
ing if  vanity  should  not  come  with  age,  or  if  his 


38 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


frequently  announced  intention  to  retire  should 
ever  be  fulfilled. 

Whoever  has  been  to  Chapultepec  will  appre- 
ciate how  unnatural  it  would  be  for  him  to  give 
up  that  home  which  has  been  his  for  so  many 
years.  Of  all  official  residences  in  either  hemi- 
sphere it  is  the  most  picturesquely  situated.  The 
location  must  give  an  occupant  the  intoxication 
of  power.  It  towers  over  its  surroundings  as 
Diaz  towers  over  all  the  other  statesmen  of 
Mexico.  On  that  rock  where  Montezuma  ruled, 
which  Scott’s  veterans  stormed,  are  the  Presi- 
dent’s summer  residence  and  the  Mexican  West 
Point — the  man  and  the  arms.  From  the  long 
colonnade  you  look  across  the  city,  well  paved, 
well  policed,  made  modern  in  Diaz’  time,  toward 
Popocatapetl  and  Ixtaccihuatl  in  their  splendor 
and  majesty. 

Whenever  he  is  accused  of  subverting  the  Con- 
stitution his  answer  is  always  the  same:  “Sup- 

pose you  had  a son  of  ten,  and  the  tailor  insisted 
on  giving  him  a man’s  suit  of  clothes.  Would 
you  let  him  wear  them,  or  would  you  put  the 
suit  away,  telling  him  he  could  have  it  when  he 
was  grown?” 

American  critics  of  one-man  power  in  Mexico 
forget  that  they  have  come  from  a country  where 
self-government  has  become  second  nature 
through  centuries  of  training  to  a country  where 
paternalism  has  been  second  nature  equally  long. 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


39 


Americans  and  Mexicans  who  go  north  always 
speak  of  going  from  the  “Republic”  to  the 
“States,”  as  if  the  States  were  not  a republic. 
No  American  ever  makes  a correction  by  saying 
that  both  countries  are  republics.  I sought  in 
vain  for  an  explanation  of  the  distinction.  Pos- 
sibly its  origin  is  satirical. 

In  all  his  talks  in  later  years  Don  Porfirio  has 
not  hesitated  to  admit  that  he  has  often  applied 
the  Constitution  in  spirit  rather  than  in  letter. 
It  is  evidently  clear  to  him  that  the  boy  is  in  no- 
wise ready  for  that  suit  of  man’s  clothes.  Indeed, 
the  slowness  of  the  boy’s  growth  is  probably  the 
cross  of  his  career.  Over  50  per  cent,  of  his 
people  are  still  unable  to  read  and  write. 

The  state  of  his  health  is  a thing  to  be  quoted 
in  the  streets,  like  the  price  of  stocks.  “Give  us 
four  or  five  years  more  of  him,”  as  one  American 
said,  “and  I hope  to  be  out  of  Mexico  with  my 
fortune.”  This  generally  voices  the  hope  of 
everybody  who  is  willing  to  leave  the  bridge- 
crossing till  he  comes  to  it;  of  great  foreign  in- 
terests at  stake  and  of  governors  and  officeholders 
who  owe  their  places  to  him,  sometimes  against 
the  wish  of  their  constituents.  Another  class — 
and  they  still  hope  to  see  their  hope  fulfilled — 
more  farseeing,  perhaps,  have  wished  that  he 
wrould  retire  and  devote  his  remaining  years  to 
having  a successor  securely  installed.  Mexico 


40 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


cannot  exist  without  one-man  power,  and  it  is 
time  that  a legatee  were  known. 

But  the  game  of  ruling  is  in  Diaz’  blood,  a 
part  of  his  life.  He  sets  a Ramon  Corral  as  Vice- 
President  in  the  play  against  Limantour,  who  is 
the  choice  of  the  financial  world.  The  followers 
of  General  Bernardo  Reyes,  also  ambitious  to 
reign  at  Chapultepec,  wanted  him  to  take  Corral’s 
place.  Corral  is  weak,  an  amenable  heir-pre- 
sumptive, and  Reyes  is  strong.  Reyes  wras  made 
a virtual  prisoner  by  the  Mexican  troops  in  the 
province  of  Nuevo  Leon,  of  which  he  is  governor. 
He  resigned  his  candidacy,  and  Diaz  tactfully 
sent  him,  with  many  compliments,  on  a long  trip 
abroad,  to  study  the  armies  of  the  world. 

Another  factor,  Madame  Diaz,  must  not  be 
overlooked  in  any  picture  of  the  political  life  of 
a regime  which  will  soon  be  historical.  The  gos- 
sip of  the  capital  always  speaks  of  her  as  “Car- 
melita.”  “What  is  Carmelita’s  view?”  ask  the 
courtiers.  She  is  the  young  wife,  daughter  of  an 
old  Spanish  family,  some  thirty  years  the  Presi- 
dent’s junior,  of  quite  a different  type  from  the 
first  Madame  Diaz. 

But  for  her  tutoring,  some  say  that  the  uncouth 
captain  of  militia  would  not  have  developed  the 
manners  which  go  with  high  place  in  a Spanish- 
speaking country.  The  softening  of  Don  Por- 
firio’s  attitude  toward  the  Church  is  due  to  her, 
,1  am  told.  She  is  a devout  Catholic.  If  a raid 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


41 


of  any  new  brotherhood  or  sisterhood  is  planned, 
the  monks  or  the  nuns  concerned  usually  receive 
warning  in  time  to  depart. 

When  Don  Porfirio  proposed  to  retire  in  1904, 
Madame  Limantour,  so  the  story  goes,  was  con- 
fident enough  of  her  husband’s  chances  to  tell 
some  friends  one  afternoon  that  soon  they  should 
have  tea  with  her  at  Chapultepec.  Some  busy 
tongue  carried  the  news  to  “Carmelita,”  who  sent 
for  one  of  the  President’s  oldest  friends,  a Gen- 
eral who  had  fought  by  his  side,  and  said: 

“Don’t  let  up  on  Porfirio  until  he  promises  to 
stay.” 

A statesman  must  be  judged  by  his  results. 
With  them  as  a criterion,  the  verdict  of  the  future 
of  Diaz’  benevolent  dictatorship  seems  clear.  He 
must  be  far  too  good  a Mexican  to  subscribe  to 
any  “After  me  the  deluge!”  programme.  Pa- 
triotic, not  exotic  like  the  old  aristocracy  of 
hacienda  owners,  he  has  taught  the  army — how 
successfully  no  man  can  tell — that  its  loyalty  is 
to  the  constituted  head  of  the  State,  although  it 
has  been  made  the  servant  of  his  own  fortunes. 
He  has  aimed,  according  to  his  light,  to  make  a 
nation  of  Mexico,  so  ingrained  with  nationalism 
that  it  could  not  he  dismembered;  to  hold  the 
friendship  of  the  United  States  and  yet  to  build 
up  a military  force  which  would  make  any  inter- 
ference a forbidding  task. 

Has  Don  Porfirio  made  a political  will  which 


42 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Mariscal  will  produce  and  in  which  all  is  ar- 
ranged? But  the  power  of  Diaz’  words  when  he 
is  dead  may  not  be  that  of  Diaz  living.  One  of 
the  critical  moments  of  modem  history  will  be 
here  when  the  flag  is  at  half-mast  on  Chapultepec, 
and  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  great  govern- 
mental and  human  problems  will  be  offered  for 
solution.  Though  lacking  the  wisdom  and 
strength  of  Diaz,  a fairly  clever  statesman,  with 
the  succession  assured  to  him,  would  keep  in  the 
saddle  for  a time,  perhaps  permanently.  At  his 
command  are  a well-equipped  little  army  and  the 
efficient  rurales  and  the  network  of  railroads 
and  telegraphs,  which  Diaz  did  not  welcome  for 
their  industrial  value  alone.  They  make  autoc- 
racy easy.  The  wire  instantly  brings  word  of  riot 
or  revolt,  and  the  rail  hurries  the  medicine  to  the 
spot. 

With  the  same  instruments,  a legatee  would 
conduct  his  own  election.  But  the  spirit  of 
Mexico  for  the  Mexicans  growls,  and  with  it  some 
appreciation  of  the  meaning  of  the  ballot.  In 
any  event,  you  must  not  overlook  the  force  of  that 
great  mass  of  Indians  used  to  a ruler  with  native 
blood  in  his  veins,  who  regard  most  of  the  candi- 
dates mentioned  as  foreigners,  in  a class  with  the 
Gringos.  A growing  brood  of  young  agitators 
wdiom  Diaz  has  kept  under  repression,  nowr  that 
the  people  have  a little  light,  might  play  a more 
dangerous  part  than  the  blind  leading  the  blind. 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  THE  MAN 


43 


What  if  the  army  and  the  rurales  fail  to  respond 
to  the  man  installed  at  Chapultepec;  if  he  should 
find  that  another  leader  had  the  troops  with  him; 
if  uprisings  began  in  all  parts  of  the  country? 
The  stake  is  a kingdom  with  an  income  which 
only  the  king’s  moderation  names.  The  rivals 
for  Diaz’  shoes  may  try  their  strength  till  one  is 
found  strongest;  till  one  has  a following  suffi- 
cient to  keep  him  in  place.  The  greatest  check 
on  disorder  will  be  the  fear  of  interference  by  the 
United  States,  and  no  less  efficacious  because 
groundless. 


CHAPTER  FIVE 


INTO  GUATEMALA 

fpOURIST  bureaus  seem  to  draw  a dead  line 
A at  the  Guatemalan  boundary.  In  the 
City  of  Mexico  accurate  information  about  travel 
in  Russia  was  more  accessible  than  details  of  how 
to  reach  the  capital  of  an  adjoining  country. 

The  shipping  agents  mentioned  two  lines  on 
the  west  coast,  with  sailings  once  in  ten 
days,  but  advised  disregard  of  published 
time  tables,  which  were  more  or  less  a form, 
and  that  I should  repair  to  Salina  Cruz  at  least 
three  days  before  an  advertised  date  of  depar- 
ture and  possess  my  soul  in  patience.  Passen- 
gers are  a consideration  largely  subsidiary  to  that 
of  freight.  If  slackness  of  cargo  at  one  port 
makes  a steamer  ahead  of  time,  a large  consign- 
ment or  a bad  surf  at  the  next  may  make  it  behind 
time.  The  captain’s  policy  is  to  get  ahead  as 
fast  as  he  can,  with  the  chances  that,  averaging 
the  whole  trip,  he  will  reach  his  terminus  ap- 
proximately when  the  agents  expect  him. 

Salina  Cruz  is,  as  yet,  little  more  than  a pier 
for  the  Tehuantepec  Isthmian  Railroad,  which 

44 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


45 


transships  sugar  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and 
manufactures  from  Europe  and  our  Atlantic 
coast.  Here  the  Mexican  government,  in  its 
laudable  and  ambitious  scheme  of  public  improve- 
ments, has  spent  more  millions  than  it  likes  to 
confess  on  great  breakwaters  of  masonry,  to 
wrest  a safe  anchorage  from  the  niggardly 
Pacific,  which  can  also  be  a very  angry  Pacific 
at  times. 

The  Tehuantepec  road  is  an  industrial  tragedy. 
Every  steam-shovelful  of  earth  excavated  at 
Panama  sounds  the  approach  of  the  day  when  it 
will  be  reduced  to  the  resources  of  local  traffic. 
It  was  built  in  the  expectation  that  the  Isthmian 
Canal  would  remain  an  unfulfilled  promise;  but 
before  the  last  rails  were  laid  on  a solid  roadbed 
through  the  treacherous  jungle,  work  was  begun 
on  the  Culebra  Cut. 

Perhaps  three  thousand  people  live  on  the 
wind-swept  sands  in  the  company  of  the  vacant 
huts  once  occupied  by  the  laborers  on  the  harbor 
works.  A hotel,  never  calculating  on  more  than 
a baker’s  dozen  of  guests,  was  overrun  by  a trav- 
eling Spanish  theatrical  company.  They  put  up 
a stage  of  boards  on  barrels  and  boxes,  with 
cheesecloth  for  curtains,  in  the  hotel  court  and 
played  everything,  from  “Camille”  to  the  Span- 
ish comedies. 

The  American  consul  and  I attended  every 
night.  He  observed  that  the  dizzy  excitement 


46 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


of  having  a fellow-countryman  and  a show  in 
town  the  same  week  might  overcome  him  for  the 
time  being;  but  he  would  have  plenty  of  leisure 
for  recuperation  from  his  debauch  after  the  at- 
tractions were  gone.  Our  introduction  had  taken 
place  an  hour  after  my  arrival,  when  a hand  was 
clapped  on  my  shoulder  from  behind  and  a hearty 
voice  said: 

“I  know  you’re  an  American,  and  don’t  think 
for  a moment  that  you  are  going  to  escape.  I’m 
lonesome!” 

With  that,  he  led  me  into  the  house,  placed  a 
chair  on  the  veranda,  and  demanded  to  know 
about  everything  at  home  from  politics  to  the 
latest  popular  song.  This  was  his  first  appoint- 
ment, and  he  had  had  the  choice  between  Salina 
Cruz  and  Zanzibar.  Mexicans  say  that  Salina 
Cruz  is  the  “jumping-off  place  for  Guatemala,” 
of  which  they  have  far  from  a high  opinion;  and 
every  foreigner  who  had  been  beyond  the  border 
had  kept  repeating,  in  answer  to  any  question 
which  might  imply  criticism:  “Wait  till  you  see 
Guatemala ! Then  you  will  see  how  Mexico 
shines  by  comparison.” 

It  was  the  consul  who  piled  additional  grief 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  captain  of  a German 
steamer,  which  was  the  first  one  bound  south. 
Our  doctors  of  the  Canal  Zone,  ever  wratchful 
for  yellow  fever,  required  most  exact  informa- 
tion about  a ship’s  passengers  as  a condition  of 


Coatzacoalcos,  eastern  terminus  of  the  Tehauntepec  railway 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


47 


her  escaping  quarantine  at  Panama.  There  were 
certain  names  on  the  agent’s  list  which  were  not 
on  that  of  the  local  health  authorities.  Rectify- 
ing matters  necessitated  a delay  of  two  or  three 
hours,  which  might  have  been  spent  in  taking  on 
coffee  and  earning  more  dollars  for  the  Hamburg 
company,  which  expects  no  nimble  peimy  to  es- 
cape its  servants. 

The  wonder  is  that  the  captain  keeps  his  tem- 
per at  all.  His  steamer  travels  36,000  miles  out 
and  home.  From  Hamburg  her  route  is  to  Lon- 
don; then  to  the  Canaries  to  coal;  then  direct  to 
Puenta  Arenas  in  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  where 
she  becomes  a local  passenger  and  freight  boat 
in  deadly  earnest,  stopping  at  every  port  all  the 
way  to  Puget  Sound  and  so  on  back  again  to  the 
Straits.  Eleven  months  is  the  duration  allowed 
the  run,  and  the  time  spent  at  Hamburg  may  be 
two  or  three  weeks ; never  more  than  four. 

I asked  the  captain  if  he  were  married.  “No,” 
he  answered  bluntly,  “and  no  right  to  be.”  But 
the  first  mate,  who  spoke  both  English  and  Span- 
ish, was  keeping  a family  at  home  on  his  pay, 
sixty  dollars  a month,  in  return  for  his  watches, 
his  long  absences,  and  the  vexations  of  lightering 
through  the  surf,  dealing  with  all  manner  of  for- 
eign officials,  and  dropping  anchor  at  all  hours 
of  the  night. 

“I  kiss  my  wife  and  children,”  he  explained, 
“and  I’m  away  to  sea  again.  When  I come 


48 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


back” — he  lifted  his  hand  to  indicate  how  much 
the  children  had  grown.  “If  I had  known  about 
California  when  I was  a young  man  I don’t  think 
I’d  be  in  this  business.  I’d  have  a little  ranch  of 
my  own  up  in  the  hills  back  of  San  Francisco.” 

All  the  regular  crew  were  German ; the  cargo- 
handlers  Chileans,  typical,  alert,  dark-eyed 
gamins  of  the  Santiago  water-front,  who  never 
make  but  one  trip.  According  to  the  captain, 
whose  inclination  to  cynicism  is  pardonable,  one 
constitutes  a cure.  However,  the  Chileans  told 
me  that  their  object  was  to  see  the  Gringos  in 
San  Francisco  and  Seattle  and  something  of  the 
rest  of  the  world.  Happily,  the  captain’s  econo- 
mies for  the  company’s  sake  did  not  extend  to  the 
table,  which  was  excellent. 

My  only  fellow-passenger  in  the  first  class  was 
a Japanese  major,  once  of  the  Information  Divi- 
sion of  Oyama’s  staff.  We  had  met  in  Man- 
churia, and  now  we  met  again,  bound  for  Guate- 
mala. He  was  busy  with  his  notebook  and 
troublesome  Spanish  primer,  seeking  knowledge 
with  racial  greediness.  Later,  we  ran  across 
each  other  in  Cabrera’s  capital,  and  that  astute 
dictator,  in  one  of  my  talks  with  him,  ventured, 
with  true  Spanish  politeness,  a sympathetic  re- 
mark on  the  misfortune  of  an  American  finding 
himself  associated  with  a Japanese  in  his  travels. 

It  showed  how  well  informed  Central  Ameri- 
can politicians  are  of  the  international  differences 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


49 


of  the  United  States,  and  how  quick  they  are  to 
scent  politics  and  intrigue  where  nothing  of  the 
kind  occurs  to  us.  As  a matter  of  fact,  the  major 
became  rather  bored  by  his  trip,  and  after  wit- 
nessing one  or  two  reviews  of  the  Central  Ameri- 
can soldiers,  hastened  on  to  Panama  and  the 
canal,  where  he  expected  to  see  something  worth 
while. 

On  one  occasion,  when  we  were  riding  on  the 
train,  as  he  looked  out  of  the  window  at  the  rich, 
sparsely  populated  valleys  of  the  Cordilleras,  he 
exclaimed,  half  to  himself : 

“Much  better  climtae  than  Kiushu”  (the  great 
southern  island  of  the  Japanese  group).  “So 
much  room  here.  No  room  in  Japan.  If  the 
Japanese  were  here  they  would  cultivate  right 
up  to  the  mountain  tops.  Beautiful,  beautiful 
country.  Too  bad!” 

It  was  the  aching  of  a highly  organized  race 
to  develop  resources  going  to  waste. 

To  return  to  the  thread  of  the  narrative,  the 
next  day  at  noon  we  dropped  anchor  opposite  two 
big  buoys,  a mile  or  more  out  from  a billowy 
white  ribbon  in  front  of  unpainted  buildings,  gray 
against  the  deep  green  of  the  foliage.  We  were 
at  San  Benito,  on  the  Mexican  border.  After 
whistling  a while  to  announce  our  arrival — evi- 
dently a lone  steamer  against  the  horizon  was 
invisible  to  official  eyes — there  was  a puff  of  white 
ashore.  This  proved  to  be  the  steam  from  a 


50 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


donkey  engine  which  drew  a boat  through  the 
surf  by  a rope  run  over  pulleys  on  the  buoys. 

Aboard  were  the  doctor,  the  captain  of  the  port, 
and  the  agent  of  the  company  (and  incidentally 
of  every  other  foreign  interest  in  the  place)  — 
a German  who  wore  leather  gaiters,  riding 
breeches,  and  a Tyrolese  cap  in  the  blazing  sun 
and  seemed  perfectly  cool.  Time  had  seasoned 
him  to  the  land’s  delays,  though  his  national  char- 
acteristic of  efficiency  was  probably  little  im- 
paired, as  I found  to  be  the  case  with  most  Ger- 
mans in  Central  America,  whether  afloat  or 
ashore. 

Inspection  of  the  ship’s  papers  and  of  the 
health  of  the  passengers  was  conducted  in  the 
cabin  over  the  iced  Pilsener,  which  I imagine  has 
saved  the  steamship  company  many  officially  im- 
posed delays  in  their  affairs.  From  Salina  Cruz 
to  Costa  Rica  the  steamer’s  arrival  is  a great 
occasion;  and  a combination  of  every  bit  of  red 
tape  invented  by  the  different  civilized  nations 
is  rigidly  adhered  to.  At  length  we  watched  the 
boarding  boat  being  leisurely  rowed  back  to  the 
buoys.  The  two  hours  which  elapsed  before  a 
cargo  boat  came  out  delayed  us  twelve.  On  ac- 
count of  the  increasing  surf  and  approaching 
darkness  we  had  to  remain  overnight,  with  only 
one  boatload  yet  to  discharge.  Some  things  are 
difficult  of  explanation  to  the  manager  in  Ham- 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


51 


burg,  who  must  have  his  trials,  in  turn,  with  a 
board  of  directors. 

Another  vista  of  breaking  surf,  another  group 
of  unpainted  buildings,  the  next  afternoon,  sig- 
nified Champerico,  the  first  port  of  Guatemala. 
Our  skeptical  skipper  confided  to  me,  with  what 
truth  I could  never  ascertain,  that  the  port  doctor 
who  came  off  here  was  really  a blacksmith. 

Leaving  my  heavy  baggage  to  go  to  San  Jose 
de  Guatemala  by  the  steamer,  without  any  com- 
pany except  the  officials,  I climbed  into  the  big, 
boxlike  chair  which  lowered  me  into  the  boat  like 
so  much  cargo.  After  weeks  on  the  west  coast 
one  becomes  as  used  to  this  procedure  as  to  jump- 
ing on  a street  car  at  home.  It  is  the  only  way 
in  lands  where  there  are  no  harbors,  and  Guate- 
mala has  not  a single  one  on  the  Pacific  side. 
She  lies  naked  to  the  unbroken  roll  of  10,000 
miles’  width  of  ocean.  A second  pulley  lift  and 
I was  on  a long,  spider-like  pier — the  surf  tear- 
ing through  the  meshes  of  the  steel  legs — with  a 
government  official  asking  for  the  traveler’s 
name,  occupation,  and  object  of  coming  to  Cham- 
perico, and  a representative  of  the  company  that 
had  the  pier  concession  asking  for  landing  dues. 
The  scene  at  the  end  of  that  pier  would  depress 
any  optimist.  Heavy  storms  had  eaten  caves  and 
gullies  into  the  soft  clay  bank,  undermining  many 
buildings,  which  had  already  fallen  or  were  about 
to  fall.  In  fact,  all  the  town  along  the  water- 


52 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


front  was  in  the  process  of  retreating  a hundred 
feet  or  more  inland. 

A dozen  soldiers,  barefoot,  some  with  caps,  but 
mostly  without,  in  soiled  blue  jeans,  armed  with 
old  Remington  rifles,  saluted  as  the  captain  of 
the  port  escorted  me  to  the  comandancia,  where 
I gave  my  name,  occupation,  destination,  and  ob- 
ject of  travel  again.  Next  we  sought  the  Ameri- 
can vice-consul,  a Jamaican  by  birth,  who  was 
living  Dyak  fashion  up  a long  stretch  of  steps  in 
a single  room — office  and  cottage  combined — * 
built  out  of  the  debris  after  the  storms. 

The  last  train  for  the  day  on  the  coffee  line 
connecting  with  the  Guatemalan  Central  at 
Mazatenango  had  gone  and  another  would  not 
start  until  day  after  to-morrow.  There  was  no 
hotel,  though  I was  welcome  to  the  consul’s  single 
bed.  How  about  a locomotive  to  make  the  jour- 
ney to  Mazatenango  that  night?  I inquired. 

The  sleepy  station  agent,  after  he  had  been 
found,  sent  off  a wire  to  see  what  could  he  done, 
and  while  we  waited  for  an  answer  Mr.  Kauff- 
man, business  arbiter  of  the  community  and  agent 
for  the  coffee  planters  up-country,  himself  an 
owner  of  a coffee  finca  (plantation),  came  to  my 
rescue,  offering  hospitality,  but  agreeing  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  world  to  keep  any  one 
who  wished  to  study  Guatemala  for  even  a few 
hours.  Champerico  was  not  Guatemala  at  all. 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


55 


only  a place  where  the  coffee  crop  was  put  aboard 
the  steamers. 

Word  came  that  I could  have  the  locomotive. 
Mr.  Kauffman  warned  the  station  agent  as  to 
what  was  a reasonable  price,  and  saw  that  I was 
not  beaten  in  the  exchange  of  my  gold  for  quan- 
tities of  Guatemalan  paper  of  continually  fluctu- 
ating value. 

Evidently  the  manager  of  the  railroad  was 
bound  to  lose  no  possible  traffic.  lie  was  quick 
with  his  promises,  if  slow  of  their  fulfilment. 
Word  kept  arriving  by  a man  whom  the  consul 
had  appointed  as  courier  that  the  special  was  on 
its  way. 

“It  is  raining;  there  might  be  a washout,”  said 
the  consul,  “and  maybe  they’ve  overlooked  tele- 
graphing the  fact.” 

This  was  hardly  encouraging  news  at  mid- 
night; but  directly  we  heard  the  scream  of  a 
whistle  back  in  the  jungle,  and  the  courier  acted 
as  guide  over  the  fissures  of  the  bank  to  the  sta- 
tion, where  an  Italian  conductor  in  charge  of  a 
venerable  day  car  behind  a venerable,  wood- 
burning  locomotive,  and  an  American  engineer 
at  the  throttle,  were  ready.  For  two  hours,  with 
the  rain  beating  against  the  windows,  we  hurtled 
through  the  darkness,  the  gleam  of  the  headlight 
making  the  wet  leaves  of  the  forest  glisten,  and 
the  swing  of  an  occasional  lantern  at  a station 
signaling  as  we  passed. 


54> 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Shortly  before  three  o’clock  the  conductor  said 
“Mazatenango!”  and  his  lone  passenger  stepped 
out  into  the  darkness  on  to  a board-walk,  with 
nothing  else  in  sight.  Convinced  that  the  hotel 
would  not  be  open,  I was  prepared  to  spend  the 
night  under  the  nearest  cover,  when  a lantern  re- 
flected the  methodical  progress  of  two  figures. 

“Welcome  to  Mazatenango,  senor!”  called  a 
voice,  and  though  I could  not  see  his  face,  I 
caught  the  shadow  pantomime  of  a hat  being 
lifted  from  the  head  of  the  speaker  with  a grand 
sweep.  It  was  the  jefe  politico  come  to  meet  me. 
Such  politeness  was  overwhelming  to  one  who 
knew  what  it  meant  in  a climate  where  early  re- 
tiring and  rising  were  the  rule.  The  other  man 
was  a friend  who  had  volunteered  as  interpreter, 
in  event  I did  not  know  Spanish. 

A carriage  was  waiting  behind  some  scrawny 
horses,  and,  the  driver  lashing  them,  we  plunged 
through  mudholes  till  we  struck  a cobblestone 
pavement  quite  as  uneven  and  treacherous.  With 
all  three  of  us  fairly  gasping,  we  halted  before 
the  door  that  opened  into  the  hotel  court,  where 
senor  and  senora  were  waiting  before  a table 
spread  for  supper.  Senora  hastened  out  to  bring 
in  a tureen  of  soup ; senor  opened  beer. 

The  jefe  and  I drank  to  Guatemala,  the  United 
States,  and  each  other’s  good  health.  Something 
of  the  importance  of  a Pan-American  commis- 
sioner seemed  to  attach  to  my  humble  self.  How 


On  (he  Pan-American  Road.  Southern  Mexico 


A street  in  Guatemala  City 


INTO  GUATEMALA 


55 


had  the  governor  of  the  province  heard  of  my 
coming?  And  why  all  this  pains,  in  any  event? 

Later  I was  to  learn  that  the  name,  occupation, 
destination  and  object  of  travel  which  are  taken 
wherever  resident  or  non-resident  goes  are  sent 
direct  to  the  jefe,  when  anything  unusual  attaches 
to  them.  It  is  his  business  to  keep  a sharp  watch 
on  all  travelers,  in  view  of  possible  revolutionary 
plots.  A foreigner  who  was  neither  a coffee 
planter  nor  a railroad  promoter  entering  his  do- 
main of  authority  so  abruptly  by  special  train  in 
the  small  hours  was  either  a perfectly  “mad 
Gringo”  or  a justifiable  object  of  suspicion. 

“We  thought  you  were  coming  by  way  of  the 
frontier,”  he  said. 

My  intention  originally  had  been  to  go  over- 
land by  the  Pan-American  Railroad,  riding  mule- 
back  over  the  uncompleted  sections — which  were 
all  on  the  Guatemalan  side.  So  I had  wired  to 
our  minister  in  Guatemala  to  make  sure  of  a safe 
official  passport.  Inquiry7  had  changed  my  plan. 
It  was  September,  with  the  rainy  season  at  its 
height,  and  no  telling  how  long  washouts  might 
delay  me.  The  water  route  seemed  wisest,  on  the 
score  of  time. 

In  vain  I begged  that  polite  jefe  to  retire.  He 
insisted  in  keeping  me  company  while  I ate.  He 
told  me  of  the  coffee  crop  and  asked  how  it  hap- 
pened that  when  President  Roosevelt  was  so 
strong  he  could  name  his  successor,  he  should  not 


56 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


remain  President  himself.  My  answers  did  not 
quite  convince  him.  Mr.  Roosevelt’s  action  was 
all  against  the  rules  of  politics  and  human  nature 
as  he  knew'  them. 

At  last,  with  a grand  sweep  of  his  hat  at  the 
door  of  my  bedchamber,  he  bade  me  good- 
night a few  minutes  before  dawn  broke.  “Hasta 
manana!”  he  concluded,  with  what  must  have  been 
real  depth  of  feeling  under  his  politeness. 


CHAPTER  SIX 


THE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 
NY  traveler  who  glanced  at  the  main  street 


of  Mazatenango  would  have  known  that 
he  was  in  the  town  of  a former  Spanish  colony. 
Though  another  type  of  people  fill  in  the  picture, 
the  frame  is  the  same  as  in  Cuba,  the  Philippines, 
or  Peru.  Spanish  influence  endures.  The  patio 
and  barred  windows  are  as  much  a part  of  the 
life  of  the  community  as  Castilian  manners. 

Your  sense  of  the  picturesque  suffers  a shock 
at  finding*yourself  out  of  the  land  of  the  peaked 
hat,  that  proud  possession  of  the  Mexican  peon 
despised  by  the  Guatemalan.  You  have  crossed 
a boundary  line  which  was  first  drawn  by  the 
Spanish  conquerors.  Under  their  dominion, 
Mexico  was  New  Spain,  and  all  that  region  from 
the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  was  officially  the  captain-generalcy  of 
Guatemala,  but  better  known  as  the  “Kingdom 
of  Guatemala.” 

It  was  in  1517  that  the  Cuban  planter,  Hernan- 
dez de  Cordoba,  bent  on  fresh  supplies  of  slaves 
for  his  plantation,  landed  in  Yucatan  and  Chris- 


57 


58 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


tian  civilization  made  its  first  acquaintance  with 
the  civilization  of  the  Mayas.  In  1519  Cortez, 
that  man  of  amazing  will  and  endurance,  settled 
Vera  Cruz.  Two  years  later  the  seat  of  the  Aztec 
empire  in  the  City  of  Mexico  was  his  spoil.  In 
1522  he  sent  Pedro  de  Alvarado  at  the  head  of 
a small  band  to  overrun  western  Guatemala.  The 
name  of  Alvarado  has  become  to  Guatemala  what 
that  of  Cortez  is  to  Mexico,  Pizarro  to  Peru,  and 
John  Smith  to  Virginia. 

“At  the  time  of  the  conquest,”  says  Keane,  “a 
great  portion  of  Mexico  proper,  the  whole  of 
Yucatan  and  most  of  Guatemala,  together  writh 
parts  of  Honduras  and  Nicaragua,  were  inhab- 
ited by  a large  number  of  civilized  nations,  who 
had,  from  remote  times,  formed  political  States, 
some  of  considerable  magnitude,  but  all  fairly 
well  organized,  with  thoroughly  constituted  forms 
of  government,  highly  developed  social  institu- 
tions, polytheistic  religious  systems  still  mostly 
at  the  sacrificial  stage,  numerous  arts  and  indus- 
tries, conspicuous  among  which  was  architecture 
of  a monumental  order,  and,  lastly,  a knowledge 
of  letters  showing  nearly  all  the  transitions  from 
picture-writing  to  phonetic  symbol,  and,  as  some 
hold,  to  a crude  alphabetic  system.” 

So  well  did  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan  resist  Cor- 
doba and  his  successors  that  fifteen  years  after 
the  first  landing  the  conquerors  were  driven  out. 
Under  the  lead  of  General  Montoros  and  Bishop 


THE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 


59 


Landa  the  Spanish  returned  in  force;  and  when 
their  work  was  finished  practically  only  native 
women  and  children  were  left  among  the  wreck- 
age of  the  Mayan  temples.  The  pagan  hooks  and 
writings  were  destroyed  by  orders  of  the  zealous 
bishop.  Four  of  the  books  have  come  down  to 
us,  but  their  message  is  still  sealed  to  the  arch- 
eologists, who  have  sought  in  vain  for  a key  of 
translation. 

The  Maya-Quiches  of  the  highlands  of  Guate- 
mala were  either  less  virile  than  their  brothers  of 
Yucatan,  or,  what  is  more  likely,  they  awakened 
to  their  danger  too  late.  They  had  as  their  im- 
mediate neighbors  other  civilized  tribes,  each 
dwelling  peacefully  in  some  valley  or  other  recog- 
nized habitat,  while  traders  going  and  coming 
among  them  traveled  far  into  Mexico.  Many  be- 
lieve that  their  civilization  was  already  becoming 
decadent.  At  all  events,  it  was  peaceful. 

Lack  of  unity  among  the  tribes  made  it  easy 
for  Alvarado  to  overcome  them  in  detail.  But 
he  did  not  escape  altogether  without  fighting. 
He  had  one  notable  battle  with  the  Nagualas, 
which  lasted  all  day.  In  want  of  other  weapons 
they  rolled  stones  down  the  hills  on  the  heads  of 
the  enemy.  Alvarado  promised  to  leave  them 
unmolested,  provided  they  would  pay  him  a cer- 
tain amount  of  tribute.  This  tribe  is  still  some- 
thing of  a law  unto  itself,  and  until  recent  years 


60 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


continued  to  pay  its  annual  tribute  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  Guatemala,  I am  told. 

On  the  site  of  the  old  Guatemala  City,  the 
present  Antigua,  deserted  by  order  of  the  Span- 
ish government  after  the  earthquake  of  1776, 
Alvarado  founded  his  capital  in  the  shadow  of 
splendid  evergreen  hills.  In  a word,  the  con- 
queror said:  “Make  me  a city  here  and  make  it 
the  grandest  in  the  New  World,”  and  in  the  heart 
of  what  Humboldt  termed  the  Paradise  of  that 
New  World. 

Alvarado  brought  artisans  from  Spain  to 
superintend  the  work.  The  natives  who  had 
served  their  priests  in  building  the  temples  which 
call  the  archeologist  were  set  to  quarrying  mas- 
sive stone  columns  for  his  vice-regal  palace,  with 
its  double  row  of  corridors  supporting  domed 
roofs,  unsurpassed  in  Spanish- American  archi- 
tecture; and  on  its  right  was  the  cathedral,  facing 
a plaza  larger  than  that  of  the  present  City  of 
Mexico,  in  which  finally  the  conqueror’s  own 
bones  rested  after  his  long  regency.  The  spacious 
monasteries  and  convents,  the  official  residences 
and  the  fountains  were  supplied  with  water 
brought  from  the  hills  by  a stone  aqueduct. 
There  were  even  public  lavatories  for  the  use  of 
the  washerwomen. 

A man  of  action,  whose  deeds  kept  pace  with 
his  dreams,  was  this  Alvarado,  a lieutenant  after 
the  heart  of  his  master.  He  once  reported  to 


THE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 


61 


Cortez  concerning  a matter  of  recalcitrant  In- 
dian chiefs:  “In  order  to  bring  them  to  the  serv- 
ice of  his  majesty  I determined  to  burn  the  lords; 
and  I burned  them  and  commanded  their  city  to 
be  burned  and  razed  to  the  foundations.”  He 
came,  he  saw,  he  conquered.  One  year  after  his 
arrival  Guatemala  was  pacified. 

Then  he  set  out  with  equal  success  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  Pupils,  a numerous  tribe  who  occu- 
pied the  country  within  the  confines  of  what  is 
practically  the  present  republic  of  Salvador.  Gil 
Gonzales  Davila  had  already  advanced  up  the 
west  coast  into  Nicaragua  in  1522,  subjecting  the 
indolent  people  to  fearful  barbarities.  Costa 
Rica  had  already  been  occupied;  and  thus,  in 
1525,  nearly  one  hundred  years  before  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  landed  on  the  “stern  and  rockbound 
coast,”  all  Central  America  was  subject  to  an 
organized  government  radiating  from  a capital 
which  soon  became  a seat  of  learning. 

Subjugation  was  not  altogether  by  the  sword. 
Not  all  the  bishops  were  of  the  type  of  Landa, 
and  even  he  believed  that  he  was  undoing  the 
work  of  the  devil  by  the  destruction  of  the  Maya 
writings.  Bishop  Las  Casas,  who  had  long 
preached  against  the  cruelties  practiced  on  the 
Indian,  asked  that  the  unexplored  country  west 
of  Yucatan  and  south  of  the  present  province  of 
Chiapas  in  Mexico  should  be  made  his  see.  His 
request  was  granted,  even  to  the  stipulation  that 


62 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


not  a single  soldier  should  assist  him.  He  won  the 
natives  to  Christianity  without  the  aid  of  blood- 
shed and  gave  this  region  the  name  of  Vera  Paz, 
or  “true  peace,”  which  it  still  bears.  History  has 
few  more  fascinating  accounts  of  patient  Chris- 
tian endeavor  than  his  own  story  of  his  work. 

Alvarado  organized  his  vice-royalty  into  eight 
provinces:  Chiapas,  Guatemala,  Yucatan,  Vera 
Paz,  Salvador,  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Costa 
Rica.  On  account  of  the  distance  and  difficulty 
of  travel,  Yucatan  later  became  a separate  cap- 
taincy-general. Vera  Paz  is  a part  of  the  present 
republic  of  Guatemala,  as  Chiapas  was  before  its 
annexation  to  Mexico.  The  other  four  form  the 
present  republics  of  Salvador,  Nicaragua,  Hon- 
duras and  Costa  Rica.  Each  had  a bishop  direct- 
ly responsible  in  all  religious  matters  to  the  eccle- 
siastical management  of  the  metropolitan  church. 

While,  broadly  speaking,  the  captain-general 
exercised  a most  absolute  despotism,  rivaled 
only  by  that  of  the  Church  in  all  religious  matters, 
Spanish  cities  were  in  the  nature  of  little  repub- 
lics, and  Alvarado  simply  demanded  tribute, 
peace  and  submission  to  his  will  in  all  outside 
affairs.  The  Indian  communities  were  left  large- 
ly to  themselves,  so  long  as  they  rendered  “unto 
Cassar  the  things  that  were  Ccesar’s.” 

In  Guatemala  City  rose  an  aristocracy  of  the 
land-holding  and  office-holding  class.  The  sons 
of  the  artisans  whom  Alvarado  had  brought  from 


TIIE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 


63 


Spain  and  of  the  camp  followers,  mixing  with  the 
natives,  formed  the  beginning  of  the  laditio — a 
word  literally  meaning  trickster — class  which 
rules  Guatemala  to-day.  It  is  said  that  the  arti- 
sans’ descendants  were  really  responsible  for  the 
moving  of  the  capital  from  Antigua  to  its  present 
site.  The  public  reason  was  an  earthquake,  which, 
from  all  accounts,  was  no  more  destructive  than 
that  of  San  Francisco  in  1905.  But  the  ladinos 
petitioned  King  Philip  II.  in  such  great  numbers 
and  influenced  him  so  far  that  he  even  ordered 
the  banishment  of  every  citizen  from  the  site  of 
Alvarado’s  palaces,  churches  and  monasteries. 

Nowhere,  excepting  in  small  numbers  in  Costa 
Rica,  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Amazon,  was 
the  Spaniard  a settler  in  the  North  American 
sense.  The  climate,  humid  and  enervating  in  the 
lowlands,  with  a paradisaical  ozone  engendering 
a dolce  far  niente  view  of  life  in  the  highlands, 
was  not  the  only  factor  which  made  him  an  aris- 
tocrat. At  his  command,  in  place  of  a Mohawk 
or  an  Apache  watching  from  ambush,  was  a civi- 
lized race  who  found  their  best  means  of  self- 
preservation  in  docility.  Though  they  accepted 
the  forms  of  Christianity,  so  persistent  is  the  an- 
cient inheritance  that  they  still  conceal  native 
gods  behind  the  altar  of  the  Virgin.  Slavery 
having  been  abolished  by  the  King  of  Spain, 
forced  labor  was  made  easy  by  the  repartimiento 
system,  by  which  an  alcalde  of  a village  might  be 


64 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


called  upon  at  any  time  to  provide  a certain  num- 
ber of  laborers  for  a wage  that  was  purely  nom- 
inal. This  applied  to  the  Indians  who  dwelt  away 
from  the  plantations.  Those  on  the  plantations 
were  practically  peons  or  serfs. 

The  Spanish  yoke  fell  from  Central  America 
largely  by  its  own  weight,  following  the  revolt 
of  Mexico  in  1821.  The  resident  aristocracy  and 
the  professional  classes  wanted  the  emoluments  of 
office  for  themselves.  Spain  had  exhausted  the 
land ; there  was  little  more  tribute  worth  having. 
At  home  she  had  sunk  to  the  rank  of  a second- 
class  nation.  She  had  neither  the  soldiers  nor  the 
will  to  suppress  a widespread  insurrection  in  New 
Spain  and  the  Kingdom  of  Guatemala.  The 
fervent  ideals  which  had  sent  forth  her  discov- 
erers had  degenerated  into  a pursuit  of  such  rem- 
nants of  profit  as  remained  in  the  wreck  of  her 
colonial  empire.  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft,  in  his 
“History  of  Central  America,”  gives  this  picture 
of  conditions  in  Guatemala  in  the  last  days  of  the 
Spanish  regime: 

“The  subdclegados  ” he  says,  “by  means  of  their 
comisarios,  collected  the  tribute  and  speculated 
with  it,  each  being  a tyrant  who  oppressed  the 
Indians  at  his  will.  Education  was  neglected; 
ignorance  prevailed  to  such  an  extent  that  a large 
portion  did  not  even  know  the  first  rudiments  of 
their  religion.  The  poorer  Spaniards  and  the 
mixed  breeds  were  entirely  without  education. 


TIIE  PEOPLE  UNDER  SPAIN 


65 


Indeed,  in  nearly  three  centuries  not  only  had  the 
Indians  not  learned  to  speak  Spanish,  but  the 
native  Spaniards  spoke  the  six  Indian  tongues 
of  the  province  better  than  their  own. ...  In  some 
Indian  towns  so-called  maestros  were  salaried 
from  the  community  funds  of  the  inhabitants. 
Such  maestros  could  scarcely  read  and  write,  and 
most  of  them  were  immoral  and  given  to  drunk- 
enness. Of  course,  no  good  results  could  be  ob- 
tained from  such  teachers.” 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE 

T^OR  a short  time  after  the  declaration  of  in- 
A dependence,  while  Iturbide  was  playing 
monarch  in  Mexico,  Guatemala,  by  political 
choice,  and  Salvador,  under  duress,  threw  in  their 
lot  with  his  empire.  But  such  an  alliance  was 
against  all  precedent.  The  former  Kingdom  of 
Guatemala  became  the  Central  American  Con- 
federation of  the  five  States  of  Guatemala, 
Salvador,  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica. 
As  a constitutional  pattern  the  new  nation  chose 
the  United  States  of  America,  which  has  the 
moral  responsibility  of  having  been  a guiding 
example  in  the  formation  of  many  republics  in 
which  the  elements  were  little  suited  to  the  idea. 
In  this  instance,  people  in  nowise  homogeneous 
were  without  experience  of  the  simplest  form  of 
electoral  government  on  a large  scale.  Their  first 
executive  head  was  a triumvirate.  Naturally,  its 
members  soon  quarreled. 

Under  the  captains-general,  lords  over  a num- 
ber of  satrapies,  with  each  provincial  subordinate 
enjoying  a good  deal  of  latitude  and  freedom 

66 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE 


67 


from  question  so  long  as  he  kept  peace  and  turned 
in  his  share  of  taxes,  Indian  tribal  differences  had 
been  strengthened,  and  sections  geographically 
and  commercially  distinct  set  against  one  an- 
other to  prevent  any  united  opposition  to  the 
ruling  power.  Even  if  all  the  elements  of  local 
prejudice,  contest  for  places  and  lack  of  com- 
munication had  been  absent,  the  confederation 
would  have  foundered  for  want  of  funds.  A 
European  loan  for  a time  satisfied  the  demands 
of  the  politicians,  who  were  drawn  from  the  land- 
holding  and  professional  classes,  as  were  also 
most  of  the  higher  churchmen,  who  had  under- 
taken to  establish  an  oligarchy  which  should  con- 
trol all  Central  America  in  their  interests. 

Within  a year  after  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitution  (1826)  a rebellion  was  under  way. 
It  spread  under  the  leadership  of  Francisco 
Morazan,  a Honduran,  of  French  blood  on  his 
father’s  side,  the  highest  type  of  adventurer  that 
Central  America  has  produced,  who  took  the 
capital  and  made  himself  virtual  dictator.  One 
of  his  first  acts  was  to  declare  freedom  of  wor- 
ship. Already,  in  1832,  Central  America  was  a 
nation  only  in  name,  and  the  other  States  were 
formally  withdrawing  from  the  confederation.  In 
1838  they  were  regularly  established  as  the  re- 
publics of  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Salvador, 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  which,  after  seventy 
years  of  wars,  revolutions  and  ambitious  efforts 


68 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


by  the  successful  dictator  of  one  country  and  an- 
other to  conquer  his  neighbors,  remain  practically 
within  the  same  boundaries  as  those  established 
by  Alvarado,  with  British  Honduras,  under  the 
British  crown  since  1797,  a broad  stretch  of  in- 
salubrious lowlands  to  the  east  of  Guatemala. 

And  from  that  day  to  this  the  power  has  been 
to  the  man  who  could  win  and  keep  it  by  the 
bayonet.  The  seal  of  the  character  of  the  ad- 
venturous Alvarado  is  set  upon  the  political  ideals 
of  the  Central  American  youth.  Every  dictator 
wants  to  erect  some  building  or  monument  in  his 
own  honor,  even  as  Alvarado  erected  a city.  In 
place  of  captains-general  from  Spain  have  been 
home-bred  captains-general,  who  send  their  gar- 
nered tribute  to  Paris  instead  of  Madrid. 

Morazan  wras  the  pioneer  Liberal,  voicing  not 
the  idea  of  freedom  of  speech — which  no  dictator 
has  ever  allowed — but  of  freedom  from  clerical 
government.  He  wras  a man  of  some  education 
and  of  practically  pure  white  blood,  who  wTent  on 
fighting  to  the  end  of  his  days  in  one  revolution 
and  another  for  love  of  excitement,  regardless  of 
gain — in  this  he  was  an  exception  to  the  rule — 
and  gave  the  command  to  “Fire!”  writh  his  own 
lips  wFen  he  wras  finally  executed  in  Costa  Rica. 
At  the  time  that  he  came  into  powder  in  Guate- 
mala he  w^as  twenty-eight  years  old,  and  only 
thirty-eight  at  his  downfall. 

. His  successor,  Rafael  Carrera,  the  son  of  a 


An  Indian  woman  (with  ladino  type  of  man  at  left) 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE 


69 


marketwoman,  who  could  not  write  his  own  name, 
became  master  of  Guatemala  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one.  The  clergy  gathered  around  this 
young  devil  from  the  highways.  According  to 
Liberal  authorities,  they  incited  the  people  with  a 
report  that  the  cholera  pestilence  of  1837  was 
due  to  the  poisoning  of  the  wells  by  Morazan, 
who  wished  to  make  room  for  more  Hondurans 
in  Guatemala.  With  the  cry  of  “Long  live  re- 
ligion and  down  with  the  foreigner!"  they  won. 

Carrera  was  as  ruthless  and  vain  as  he  was 
ignorant.  He  did  not  bother  with  taking  prison- 
ers in  battle.  Whenever  he  appeared  in  the 
streets  the  people  were  under  orders  to  shout 
“Viva  Carrera!”  under  extreme  penalty  for  dis- 
obedience. On  public  occasions  he  wore  green 
frieze  trousers,  a coat  brilliant  with  gold  embroid- 
ery of  his  own  design,  and  a hat  decked  with  pic- 
tures of  the  saints. 

To  the  Conservatives  the  marketwoman’s  son 
was  a bulwark  against  anarchy.  He  had  enabled 
them  to  restore  the  old  order.  Their  Congress 
voted  him  a hero  and  his  bust  was  engraved  on 
the  coins  of  the  land.  Chosen  President  for  life, 
in  1852,  he  held  the  reins  till  his  death  in  1865. 

After  him  came  Vicente  Cerna,  whom  he  had 
named  for  his  successor  in  much  the  same  fashion 
that  President  Diaz  is  expected  to  name  his. 
Cerna  was  strongly  pro-clerical  and  weak.  In- 
surrections of  the  ladino,  or  Liberal  element. 


70 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


breaking  out  in  many  places  were  suppressed 
easily  at  first,  but  in  1869  Serapio  Cruz,  the  fore- 
most malcontent,  sprang  across  the  border  from 
Mexico  with  all  of  twenty-five  armed  men,  a 
nucleus  which  grew  into  a considerable  force  as 
he  advanced.  He  was  killed  and  his  head  borne 
into  the  capital  as  a public  exhibition  of  the  fate 
of  traitors.  His  lieutenants,  Granados  and  Bar- 
rios, kept  up  the  fight,  and  before  the  year  was 
out  Cerna  was  in  flight  and  they  were  in  power. 

Granados  was  President  for  a short  time,  but 
made  way  for  his  stronger  ally,  J.  Rufino  Barrios, 
the  hero  of  “the  age  of  Liberalism,”  which  still 
prevails  in  Central  America,  whether  under  a 
Cabrera  or  a Zelaya.  In  the  thirty-eight  years 
since  independence  there  had  been  little  or  no  im- 
provement in  education,  communications  or  com- 
merce. The  landlords  had  thriven  off  the  increas- 
ing production  and  price  of  coffee.  They  had 
lived  extravagantly  and  carelessly,  planter  fash- 
ion. Paris  was  the  Mecca  of  the  rich  families, 
who  frequently  educated  their  children  abroad. 
The  repartimiento  system  continued  as  under  the 
Spaniards.  Each  plantation  had  its  own  justice 
of  the  peace  for  dealing  with  the  offenses  of  its 
resident  laborers. 

Nominally,  the  Barrios  movement  was  that  of 
reform  for  the  masses  against  the  ecclesiastical 
and  land-holding  aristocracy.  He  was  as  brutal 
as  Carrera.  A dead  enemy  was  the  safest  enemy. 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE 


•71 

His  followers  were  the  creole  or  ladino  element, 
far  outnumbering  the  old  white  families,  but  out- 
numbered two  to  one  by  the  pure-blooded  In- 
dians, who,  as  will  appear  later,  are  in  nowise  a 
political  factor  except  for  purposes  of  exploita- 
tion. The  language  of  the  ladinos  is  Spanish; 
that  of  the  natives  was  in  Barrios’  time,  and  is 
still,  their  native  tongue.  A few  ladinos  had  re- 
ceived education  at  the  university  in  Guatemala; 
many  had  attended  the  priests’  schools.  A brood 
of  abogados,  ambitious  for  political  preferment, 
had  arisen.  Barrios  was  their  hero. 

He  banished  the  Jesuits,  confiscated  much  of 
the  property  of  the  Church,  took  all  tithes  out  of 
its  hands,  prohibited  the  wearing  of  vestments  in 
the  street,  and,  in  order  to  set  one  sect  against 
another,  invited  the  Protestant  missionaries  from 
the  United  States  to  undertake  proselytization. 
Church  schools  became  public  schools,  with  his 
own  picture  on  the  walls  in  place  of  the  Pope  and 
the  saints.  He  was  excommunicated  by  the 
Bishop  of  Teya  in  the  following  words: 

“1.  That  the  man  who  is  called  Jose  Rufino 
Barrios  is  held  to  be  excommunicated  from  our 
blessed  congregation,  and  to-day  I prohibit  from 
taking  the  name  of  one  of  the  saints  of  our  Roman 
martyrology. 

“2.  We  caution  the  faithful  not  to  communi- 
cate with  him  who  is  called  Jose  Rufino  Barrios, 
who  has  been  placed  outside  of  the  mercy  of  God. 


72 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


“3.  If  our  accursed  brother  (Rufino  Barrios) 
wishes  to  continue  in  the  government  of  the  dio- 
ceses of  Guatemala,  let  him  be  accursed  by  all 
generations  and  let  him  be  held  once  and  a thou- 
sand times  as  a pharisee  and  a publican  of  mod- 
ern times,  and 

“4.  Let  the  fate  of  the  accursed  excommuni- 
cated follow  all  those  who  will  lend  to  him  their 
support  to  throw  to  the  ground  the  altars  of  our 
religion,”  etc.,  etc. 

Barrios  drafted  a new  Constitution,  wrhich  was 
a dead  letter  immediately  after  its  adoption,  so 
far  as  any  allegiance  to  its  liberal  provisions  on 
his  part  was  concerned.  Coming  into  power  in  a 
period  of  great  industrial  expansion  throughout 
the  world,  he  opened  the  door  to  foreign  com- 
mercial enterprise  by  a system  of  grants  and 
monopolies.  He  built  a certain  number  of  cart 
roads;  he  established  telegraphs,  whose  value  in 
keeping  him  in  touch  with  insurgent  plots  he  saw 
as  readily  as  Diaz;  he  granted  a concession  for  the 
first  railway  to  be  built  in  Guatemala,  and  he 
welcomed  the  Germans  to  the  development  of  new 
tracts  of  coffee  land,  with  his  jefes  forcing  the 
natives  to  labor  for  the  new  masters.  And  all  the 
while  it  meant  imprisonment,  if  not  worse,  to 
utter  or  publish  a word  tinged  with  the  slightest 
criticism  of  him  or  his  measures.  Yet,  in  view  of 
later  oppression,  the  Conservatives  look  back  to 
him  as  a comparatively  generous  ruler. 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE 


73 


Inevitably,  his  success  made  him  aspire  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Central  American  union,  with 
himself  as  its  head.  Honduras,  pliable  to  his  will, 
had  agreed  to  submit,  and  so  had  Salvador,  he 
asserted.  Upon  Salvador’s  repudiation  of  his 
proclamation  of  the  confederation,  he  started 
across  her  frontier  with  his  army.  lie  was  killed 
on  April  21,  1885  (by  his  own  men,  it  is  gen- 
erally admitted)  ; and,  wanting  a leader,  his 
troops  fled.  For  thirteen  years  he  had  been  the 
most  pretentious  figure  in  Central  America.  In 
keeping  with  his  opportunities,  he  had  accumu- 
lated the  largest  fortune  of  any  of  its  rulers. 
This  was  carefully  invested  abroad  against 
emergency  and  went  to  his  wife  and  six  children, 
who  left  the  country  at  once. 

His  successor,  Manuel  Barrillas,  held  office  for 
four  years,  or  a full  term,  but  was  too  weak  to 
prevail  against  the  cabal  formed  to  vote  the  dis- 
tricts for  Reina  Barrios,  nephew  of  the  hero. 
Thereafter,  Barrillas  became  an  active  revolu- 
tionist, who  was  assassinated  in  1907  by  a Guate- 
malan in  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  pursuance  of  a 
plot  formed,  it  is  alleged,  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  ruling  powers  in  Guatemala  City.  On  the 
night  of  February  8,  1899,  Reina  Barrios  was 
shot  in  the  street  by  Oscar  Zollinger,  a German. 
Estrada  Cabrera,  who  had  just  returned  from  a 
mission  to  Costa  Rica,  appeared  at  once  in  the 
palace  and  getting  the  Cabinet  to  recognize  him 


74 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


as  first  Designado , became  President  of  Guate- 
mala until  an  election  for  that  office  could  be  held. 
Barrios’  friends  said  that  Zollinger  was  in  San 
Jose  de  Costa  Rica  for  eight  days  at  the  same 
time  that  Cabrera  was  there,  and  that  his  ex- 
penses were  paid  by  Cabrera.  Later,  Cabrera, 
who  is  a clever  lawyer,  elected  himself  by  force, 
and  is  still  in  office. 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 


ACROSS  THE  HIGHLANDS 

rpiIE  train  ride  to  Guatemala  City  the  day 
A after  my  arrival  at  Mazatenango  killed 
my  growing  distrust  of  Humboldt  at  a blow.  He 
was  right,  unless  the  contrast  of  the  lowlands  with 
the  plateau  affects  the  judgment  of  all  visitors — 
Guatemala  is  the  Paradise  of  the  New  World. 
Alvarado’s  building  plans  were  nothing  more 
than  an  inspiration  in  keeping  with  the  back- 
ground of  his  capital.  Days  spent  amidst  the 
scenery  of  the  West  Indian  islands  seemed 
comparatively  waste,  though  less  so  after  an 
experience  of  the  beds  and  fare  of  the  Grand 
Hotel  de  Guatemala. 

A traveling  companion  appearing  and  disap- 
pearing with  the  turns  of  the  railroad  line  was 
the  dead  volcano  Atitlan,  a cone  as  perfect  as 
Fujiyama’s,  in  dim,  dark  outline  against  the  soft, 
intoxicating  blue.  Prodigally,  with  a sense  of 
fair  play  to  all  districts,  such  cones  are  scattered 
through  the  length  of  the  land.  Tajumulxo  and 
Tacana  are  more  than  13,000  feet  above  sea  level. 
Santa  Maria,  long  silent,  erupted  in  April,  1902, 

75 


76 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


over  the  mountain  city  of  Quezaltenango,  killing 
ten  times  the  number  of  people  lost  at  San  Fran- 
cisco and  a quarter  of  the  number  at  Messina 
without  creating  a flutter  in  the  news  dispatches 
or  international  Red  Cross  circles. 

Coffee  planters  found  their  fincas  half  buried, 
and  were  discouraged  till  they  recalled  prece- 
dents. History  repeated  itself  with  the  blessing  of 
fertilizer  in  the  form  of  volcanic  ash,  producing 
largely  increased  crops  in  ensuing  years.  It 
amounts  to  a positive  asset  for  a plantation  to 
have- been  sprinkled  by  an  eruption. 

The  mountain  region  of  los  altos  in  the  dis- 
tance shared  the  eye’s  attention  with  a vista  of 
mighty  oaks  and  cedars  and  of  the  everlasting 
life  of  orchid  and  vine,  which  devour  decayed 
timber  so  rapidly  that  whatever  is  dead  is  blan- 
keted with  green.  Ours  was  a loitering  train, 
having  a freight  car,  a first-class  cane-seated 
passenger  car,  and  two  cars  for  the  natives,  with 
long,  wooden  seats  against  the  sides.  At  every 
station  Indian  women  advanced  at  the  double- 
quick,  with  baskets  of  fruit  borne  on  their  heads. 
They  turned  an  affair  of  trade  into  a fiesta  occa- 
sion, with  infrequent  sales  the  prizes  of  the  game. 
To  the  untrained  observer,  when  he  did  not  de- 
tect a strain  of  Spanish  blood,  they  all  looked 
alike;  but  I was  told  that  a difference  in  the  de- 
signs of  shawls  and  skirts  was  the  badge  from 
time  immemorial  of  neighboring  tribes,  speaking 


ACROSS  TIIE  HIGHLANDS 


77 


different  dialects.  Probably  the  chiefs  whom 
Alvarado  conquered  would  understand  their  talk 
easier  than  Alvarado  would  understand  the  Span- 
ish of  to-day. 

Aside  from  the  faces  of  the  numerically  over- 
whelming Indians,  you  noted  the  faces  of  peo- 
ple of  varying  degrees  of  Spanish  blood.  At  one 
station  a dozen  young  women  came  to  see  a friend 
off.  All  were  creoles,  or  ladinos,  who  shared  the 
contempt  of  the  purest  Spaniard  for  the  aborigi- 
nes. Only  the  humblest  of  this  class  ever  think 
of  intermarrying  with  the  Indians.  The  marked 
social  distinction  is  between  those  who  are  and 
those  who  are  not  of  exclusive  Indian  blood. 

We  had  glimpses  of  an  occasional  German 
planter  and  creole  overseers,  with  their  high 
“dashboard”  boots  to  protect  their  knees  from  the 
brambles  and  machete  slung  in  the  saddle,  ready 
to  cut  away  a vine  or  a limb  that  had  shot  across 
the  trail.  The  land  seemed  thinly  populated  for 
its  resources,  the  villages  clusters  of  thatched 
huts,  and  nowhere,  except  in  the  persons  of  the 
German  planters,  any  evidences  of  wealth. 

At  Escuintla,  the  junction  of  the  line  which 
connects  San  Jose,  the  main  Pacific  port,  with 
Guatemala  City,  we  dined.  The  Swiss  conduct- 
or warned  me  against  the  station  restaurant.  He 
knew  a better  place  kept  by  a Chinese.  Thanks, 
perhaps,  to  the  hunger  it  appeased,  that  meal 
seems  the  best  I had  ashore,  outside  a private 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


house,  from  Mexico  to  Costa  Rica:  Macaroni 
soup,  fried  plantains,  shirred  eggs,  beefsteak,  and 
rice  a trifle  greasy,  Spanish  fashion.  Finally, 
your  choice  of  a mountain  of  fruit — oranges,  fin- 
ger bananas,  pineapples,  custard  apples,  sapotes, 
grenadillos  and  alligator  pears,  luxuries  which 
reach  New  York  in  cotton  jackets  at  overwhelm- 
ing prices.  Meanwhile,  our  host  was  omnipresent. 
In  fact,  the  Chinese  is  omnipresent  through- 
out Guatemala,  paying  his  tribute  to  officialdom, 
cutting  off  his  queue  and  taking  a native 
wife,  and,  so  long  as  he  may  trade,  not  caring 
whether  they  call  the  man  in  the  palace  viceroy, 
king,  president  or  dictator. 

After  leaving  Escuintla,  our  train  became  an 
express,  scorning  the  smaller  villages,  and  we 
began  the  winding  climb  toward  Guatemala  City, 
passing  Lake  Amatitlan — which  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  larger  lake  of  Atitlan — a sheet 
of  wondrous  beauty  and  an  aid  to  laziness  in 
keeping  with  the  prolific  fertility  of  the  land. 
The  washerwomen  were  busy  boiling  their  clothes 
in  the  bubbling  hot  spring  along  the  shores  and 
using  the  broad,  flat  stones  as  pounding  boards. 
Skies  which  rained  soap  would  mean  perfection. 

A first  view  of  Guatemala  City,  in  its  out- 
skirts of  thatches,  of  the  fortress  on  one  hill  sug- 
gestive of  the  hill  of  the  Acropolis,  and  of  the 
ancient  cathedral  of  El  Carmen  on  another,  was 
followed  by  the  disillusion  of  a dilapidated  cab 


Some  highland  belles  in  Gua  emala 


Al  a station  on  the  Guatemala  Central 


ACROSS  THE  HIGHLANDS 


79 


drawn  by  miserable  ponies  in  disintegrating  har- 
ness patched  by  rope  and  driven  by  whippings 
and  duckings  and  shoutings  of  the  driver  along 
the  route  of  the  single  horse-car  line,  past  the 
buildings  of  stone  and  stucco  flush  with  the  nar- 
row sidewalk. 

Though  it  was  the  evening  promenade  hour, 
not  many  people  were  abroad.  By  the  time  you 
were  at  the  hotel  door  you  had  sensed  the  atmos- 
phere of  repression  which  you  were  later  to  un- 
derstand. Propitiatory  paper  dollar  after  paper 
dollar  was  placed  in  the  extended  hand  of  cabby 
till  the  cordage  seemed  sufficient  to  every  one 
present  except  himself.  If  he  was  as  extrava- 
gantly overpaid  as  some  informants  said  that  he 
was,  then  let  us  hope  that  some  part  of  the  wind- 
fall went  into  forage  for  his  steed. 

The  official  courtesy  which  began  at  Mazate- 
nango  positively  flowered  at  Guatemala  City. 
In  a sense,  it  became  embarrassing  when  I found 
that  I must,  in  justice,  show  the  reverse  side  of 
the  official  picture.  Since  the  latest  attempt  at 
assassination,  Estrada  Cabrera,  the  President, 
had  settled  himself  in  a house  across  the  street 
from  the  Presidential  Palace,  where  he  w’as  less 
exposed  to  attack.  In  a reception-room,  with 
two  rows  of  chairs  facing  each  other  in  stiff  Cas- 
tilian inference  of  vis-a-vis  conversation,  he  re- 
ceived his  visitor  with  the  Spanish  politeness  char- 


80 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


acteristic  of  every  country  on  which  Spain  has 
set  the  stamp  of  many  attractive  conventions. 

He  is  forty-five,  alert,  suspicious  of  manner, 
with  a strain  of  Indian  blood  evident  in  his  fea- 
tures. When  an  officer  in  his  household  appeared 
rather  suddenly  in  the  doorway,  his  keen  glance, 
the  quick  movement  of  his  body  in  readiness  for 
an  emergency,  the  sharp  call  of  inquiry  with 
which  he  broke  the  flow  of  his  talk,  indicated  a 
watchfulness  which  had  become  part  of  his  ex- 
istence. 

“What  would  you  like  to  see?”  he  inquired, 
after  the  formalities  were  over. 

“Your  garrison  at  drill  and  permission  to  visit 
your  public  schools,”  I suggested. 

“My  ambition  and  the  whole  object  of  my 
policy,”  he  explained,  “is  the  education  of  the 
people.  My  one  patriotic  thought  is  to  carry  on 
the  work  begun  by  the  Liberator,  Rufino  Barrios. 
As  for  our  army,  I fear  you  will  hardly  find  it 
worth  your  attention.  We  have  only  a few 
poorly  drilled  peasants.” 

“How  many  in  the  standing  army?” 

“From  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand,  and  alto- 
gether we  could  put  sixty  thousand  in  the  field,” 
he  answered. 

In  ratio  to  population,  this  gives  Guatemala  a 
larger  standing  army  than  Germany. 

“I  will  send  some  one,”  he  continued,  “to  show 
you  both  my  army  and  my  cscuelas  practicas. 


ACROSS  TIIE  HIGHLANDS 


81' 


by  which  I hope  to  redeem  my  country  to  pros- 
perity and  industry.” 

“Permission  will  be  sufficient,  Mr.  President. 
I will  find  my  way.” 

But  protest  was  vain.  He  turned  to  his  secre- 
tary of  foreign  affairs,  Juan  Barrios,  who  was 
present.  By  the  way,  Senor  Barrios  had  greeted 
the  officially  conducted  traveler  by  exhibiting  a 
telegram  of  regret  from  an  alcalde  for  not  having 
been  present  to  greet  me  as  the  locomotive  from 
Champerico  passed  through  his  village  at  two 
o’clock  in  the  morning. 

“Senor  Barrios,”  said  the  President,  speaking 
to  him  in  the  tone  of  an  officer  to  a soldier,  “you 
will  meet  our  guest  at  seven  in  the  morning  and 
take  him  to  the  Campo  de  Marte  to  see  the  troops 
drill,  and  afterward  to  the  schools  and  Hippo- 
drome.” 

“Yes,  your  excellency,”  said  Senor  Barrios. 

It  was  nearer  eight  the  next  morning  when  he 
appeared  at  the  hotel  door  in  a carriage  which  had 
the  stability  and  springs  of  a Pullman,  defiant 
of  the  worst  havoc  of  the  rainy  season  on  subur- 
ban roads.  I had  spent  the  night  under  blankets ; 
the  air  was  soft  and  cool  as  May.  From  the 
broad  stretch  of  thick  turf  of  the  drillground  one 
saw  the  city  in  the  valley  surrounded  by  hills  of 
deep,  billowy  green.  Afar  up  the  slopes  the  old 
church  of  a mountain  village  was  a finger  of 


82 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


white  pointing  to  a sky  which  was  like  the  sky  of 
the  Mediterranean  at  dawn. 

Meanwhile,  the  garrison  marched  past.  Every 
army  in  Central  America  is  the  army  of  its  mas- 
ter, expressing  his  personal  ideas  of  pomp  and 
efficiency.  Cabrera  has  a troop  of  boy  buglers, 
who  take  the  place  of  honor  at  dress  parade  with 
a roar  of  brassy  notes.  Some  five  hundred  men 
form  the  corps  d’elite,  known  as  the  Presiden- 
tial Guard.  They  are  trusted  to  defend  him  and 
are  taught  loyalty  to  him  alone.  In  return,  they 
have  a uniform  which  includes  some  strips  of 
white  braid,  are  supplied  with  shoes,  and  armed 
with  modern  rifles.  These  and  some  two  hundred 
regulars  and  a battery  of  Hotchkiss  mountain 
guns  went  through  the  manual  of  the  skirmish 
drill  with  a good  deal  of  spirit  and  skill.  They 
included  pure-blooded  Indians  and  ladinos  vary- 
ing from  a small  to  a large  admixture  of  white 
blood.  Of  course,  this  was  the  flower  of  the  army, 
in  contrast  to  the  ununiformed,  tatterdemalion, 
slightly  drilled  garrisons  through  the  country 
districts. 

If  Cabrera  had  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  men 
of  the  type  that  I saw  at  the  Ccimpo  de  Marte,  the 
war  strength  of  Guatemala  would  be  in  keeping 
with  its  position  as  the  most  populous  Central 
American  nation,  and  Cabrera’s  ambition  to  ex- 
tend his  domain  to  the  boundaries  of  Costa  Rica 
mi  edit  be  fulfilled  if  he  did  not  have  to  reckon 


ACROSS  THE  HIGHLANDS 


83 


with  interference  by  Mexico  or  the  United  States. 
But  when  I asked  the  commanding  officer  for  the 
strength  of  the  standing  army,  he  hesitated  and 
finally  said:  “Five  thousand.”  The  truth  is  that 
the  number  is  always  fluctuating  and  nobody 
knows  exactly  how  many  are  under  arms  at  a 
time.  Additional  recruits  are  impressed  if  dan- 
ger threatens  from  any  quarter. 

After  leaving  the  drillground  we  had  another 
and  most  delightful  companion,  General  Molina, 
the  minister  of  war,  a brown-skinned,  white- 
bearded  old  gentleman,  whose  features  had  a 
touch  of  Mongolian  dignity  and  repose.  He  is 
said  to  be  unique  among  modern  Central  Ameri- 
can military  leaders  in  that  he  has  no  political 
interest  in  any  faction  and  is  ever  ready  to  serve 
whoever  officially  rules  in  the  palace.  Accepting 
his  definition  of  a battle  and  a campaign,  he  had 
been  in  thirty  battles  and  fourteen  campaigns. 
If  the  spirits  of  warriors  hover  together  in  the 
after- world,  he  ought  to  be  perfectly  at  home 
among  the  veterans  of  the  broils  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  I can  attest  that  they  will  find  him  genial 
company. 

Along  the  Paseo  del  Reforma,  the  public  drive, 
with  two  rows  of  trees  and  rows  of  marble  statues 
of  the  statesmen  of  Guatemala  and  of  young 
women  in  modem  costume — young  women  with 
and  without  bustles,  young  women  going  out  for 
a walk,  parasol  in  hand,  and  young  women  in 


84 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ball  gowns — we  drove  to  the  Estrada  Cabrera 
Museum,  with  its  imposing  facade,  a statue  of 
Rufino  Barrios  in  front,  and  a limited  collection 
of  Guatemalan  arts,  mineralogy  and  products 
within.  Next  we  went  to  the  Estrada  Cabrera 
Normal  School,  which  has  seventj^  or  eighty 
pupils  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Those  from 
out  of  town  live  in  the  dormitories.  I met  two 
foreign  instructors,  and  the  conditions,  if  not  up 
to  date,  seemed  progressive.  We  passed  a large 
building  in  course  of  construction,  which  was  to 
be  the  new  home  of  the  principal  Estrada  Cabrera 
Industrial  School,  and  saw  at  the  old  escuela 
practica  fifteen  or  twenty  pupils,  with  a full- 
blooded  negro  as  the  instructor  in  agriculture. 

The  charming  note  of  the  day  was  struck  at  a 
normal  school  for  girls  in  charge  of  a young 
woman,  who  seemed  to  be  getting  more  work  out 
of  her  pupils  than  any  other  instructor  we  met. 
On  the  walls  were  the  usual  portraits  of  the  Presi- 
dent, “His  Excellency,  the  Most  Illustrious,” 
etc.,  etc.,  as  patron  and  benefactor.  When  I 
asked  the  young  woman  if  she  had  received  her 
education  in  a convent,  she  said  “No!”  very  de- 
cidedly and  in  a way  to  make  sure  that  the  sec- 
retary for  foreign  affairs  heard  her  answer.  Were 
there  any  religious  exercises  at  all?  “No!” 
Cabrera  is  a prophet  of  a Guatemalan  Age  of 
Reason.  He  continues  the  war  on  the  Church 
which  Rufino  Barrios  began.  The  political  ele- 


President  Cabrera’s  company  of  boy  buglers 


The  Presidential  guard  regiment  in  Guatemala 


ACROSS  THE  HIGHLANDS 


85 


ment  of  the  creole  class  which  forms  his  following 
are  irreligious,  though  their  women  folk  are  fre- 
quently attached  to  Catholicism,  which  has  a 
strong  hold  with  the  old  aristocracy  and  with  the 
Indians. 

At  the  Hippodrome,  where  the  annual  races 
are  held,  Cabrera  erected  the  Estrada  Cabrera 
Temple  of  Minerva,  of  wood.  When  it  fell  down 
the  priests  said  it  was  due  to  divine  anger  at  a 
pagan  temple  in  a Christian  city.  The  little  In- 
dian dictator’s  answer  was  a second  structure, 
this  time  of  stone,  defying  divine  wrath  to  do  its 
worst.  For  fear  of  assassination  he  can  never 
ride  out  to  see  his  name  in  big  letters  on  his  temple 
or  schools.  He  had  not  been  in  the  streets  but 
once  in  six  months  when  I was  in  Guatemala,  and 
then  had  ridden  between  a double  line  of  soldiers. 

We  have  heard  the  official  side.  In  the  next 
chapter  we  shall  hear  the  other  side,  which  ex- 
plains why  he  and  every  political  enemy  of  his 
lives  a hunted  life. 


CHAPTER  NINE 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 

HEN  a man  or  a woman,  well  bred  and 


of  quiet  manner  and  a graduate  of  an 


American  college  or  school,  says  calmly  that  as- 
sassination is  warrantable  as  a means  of  ridding  a 
so-called  republic  of  its  President  who  serves 
nominally  for  only  four  years,  your  sense  of  shock 
is  not  softened  by  the  fact  that  you  have  just  been 
hearing  the  gentleman  who  excites  so  desperate 
a view  talk  the  highest  patriotism  and  picture  his 
career  as  a sacrifice  for  enlightened  and  pro- 
gressive government. 

“Some  one  will  kill  the  monster  yet,”  expresses 
the  wish  as  well  as  the  thought  of  thousands  of 
Guatemalans  who  have  seen  their  friends  and 
relatives  imprisoned  and  executed  without  trial, 
under  a reign  of  terror.  The  American  who  is 
personally  conducted  through  Guatemala,  with- 
out getting  either  citizens  or  foreign  residents 
behind  closed  doors,  will  return  in  a pleasanter 
frame  of  mind  than  if  he  had  listened  to  allega- 
tions whose  credibility  was  vouched  for  from 
sources  that  seem  indisputable. 


86 


TIIE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


87 


Cabrera  has  escaped  one  attempt  at  assassina- 
tion, and,  supposedly,  a second.  The  first  time, 
April  29,  1907,  a mine  was  exploded  under  his 
carriage  as  he  drove  through  the  streets.  Arrests 
were  made  by  the  wholesale.  It  was  compromis- 
ing to  have  been  abroad  at  the  time  of  the  at- 
tempt.  The  jails  were  filled  with  suspects,  who 
were  brought  before  a military  tribunal  without 
any  chance  to  defend  themselves,  where  they  had 
a form  of  secret  trial.  Many  were  tortured  to 
make  them  confess  guilt  concerning  an  affair  of 
which  they  probably  knew  nothing,  and  many 
were  executed. 

The  second  time,  July,  1908,  his  own  cadets, 
the  young  men  of  Guatemala’s  West  Point,  were 
charged  with  an  attempt  on  his  life  while  acting 
as  a guard  of  honor.  All  these  young  men  were 
of  good  families.  IIow  many  were  hunted  down 
and  shot  nobody  knows.  Every  one  who  had 
been  seen  talking  to  a cadet  within  two  or  three 
days  previous  to  the  attempt  was  arrested.  Many 
of  those  already  in  jail  on  suspicion  of  being  party 
to  the  mine  plot  were  summarily  shot. 

The  following  is  from  a letter  written  to  the 
New  York  Times  by  Dr.  Herman  Prowe,  a Ger- 
man physician  who  spent  twenty-three  years  in 
Guatemala,  in  answer  to  a statement  of  Senor 
Herrarte,  the  Guatemalan  minister  to  Washing- 
ton: 

“As  a physician  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  have  to  treat 


88 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


three  of  the  poor  youths  who  were  flogged  into 
insensibility  by  Cabrera’s  orders.  They  told  me 
that  they  thought  the  whole  conspiracy  was  a 
fake.  When  the  cadets  were  ordered  to  the  palace 
their  muskets  were  unloaded,  and  they  carried  no 
ammunition.  A civilian  in  the  President’s  suite 
fired  the  first  shot.  After  that  all  the  shooting 
was  done  by  Cabrera’s  own  adjutants. 

“One  of  these  young  men,  after  having  care- 
fully been  nursed  back  to  health  under  my  care, 
was  again  seized  and  was  flogged  so  unmercifully 
that  he  died.  This  was  more  than  I could  stand. 
After  this  incident  I left  Guatemala,  glad  to  turn 
my  back  on  that  unhappy  country'  for  good.” 

Among  those  arrested  for  complicity  with  the 
cadets  were  many  Hondurans,  Cabrera  at  that 
time  being  angry  at  Honduras,  which  was  under 
the  control  of  Zelaya,  President  of  Nicaragua, 
his  political  rival.  The  Hondurans  were  kept  in 
jail  without  trial,  but  finally  all  were  released 
through  the  good  offices  of  Secretary  Root,  ex- 
cept one.  This  was  a young  man  named  Midence. 
Cabrera  refused  to  let  him  go  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  a Guatemalan,  as  he  had  attended  the 
military  school  and  the  national  institute. 

Young  Midence’s  father  was  also  brought  be- 
fore the  military  tribunal,  and,  according  to  the 
account  given  me,  the  court  having  failed  to  en- 
trap him  into  admissions,  told  him  that  he  was  an 
infamous  old  scoundrel  and  liar,  and  he  had  better 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


89 


come  out  with  the  truth  if  he  knew  what  was  good 
for  him.  lie  could  only  answer  that  he  was  en- 
tirely innocent  of  any  plot  against  Cabrera. 

Then  they  stripped  him  and  threw  him  on  his 
face,  and  warned  him  to  tell  everything  or  they 
would  heat  him  to  death.  lie  still  answered  that 
he  had  nothing  to  tell,  and  they  finally  let  him  go. 
His  son,  having  been  more  than  once  beaten  into 
insensibility,  had  received  altogether  300  lashes. 
Some  of  these,  it  is  alleged,  were  given  in  the 
presence  of  Juan  Barrios,  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  who  wished  to  see  that  the  job  was  well 
done. 

But  this  justification  for  brutality  scarcely 
holds  when  all  that  is  wanted  of  the  victims  is 
money.  The  richest  man  in  Guatemala,  except- 
ing Cabrera  himself,  who  has  amassed  a great 
fortune,  is  Salvador  Herrera,  a land  owner,  who 
has  been  in  jail  seven  times,  on  each  occasion  for 
the  purpose  of  forcing  from  him  a sum  of  money 
called  a “voluntary  loan.” 

One  of  Cabrera’s  Cabinet  remarked  that  the 
only  way,  he  feared,  that  the  administration 
would  ever  be  able  to  get  all  of  Herrera’s  fortune 
was  to  kill  him.  This  would  be  easy  enough  if  he 
were  not  a man  of  so  much  prominence  that  news 
of  his  death  would  be  widely  circulated  outside  of 
Guatemala. 

Your  average  owner  of  a small  coffee  planta- 
tion is  more  easily  disposed  of.  The  exactions 


90 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


of  the  government  strip  him  of  his  property,  and 
gradually,  for  debt,  the  plantations  are  passing 
into  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  who  own  60  per 
cent,  of  them.  Families  are  not  only  impover- 
ished but  decimated.  Women  have  been  to  the 
cuartel  and  begged  for  the  corpses  of  their  fathers 
and  husbands  which  they  have  seen  go  by  in  carts. 
The  authorities  denied  their  prayer,  probably  be- 
cause of  a desire  that  the  lacerations  of  the  bodies 
from  whippings  should  not  be  exposed. 

But  why  do  not  these  people  sell  their  proper- 
ty? Why  do  not  they  leave  Guatemala?  you  ask. 
They  cannot  sell  their  property  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  officials,  who  refuse  to  issue  a legal 
transfen  They  cannot  leave  Guatemala  except 
over  jungle  trails,  and  thet.  only  if  undetected. 
Cabrera  fears  that  if  he  let  them  go  they  would 
become  emigrados  who  would  agitate  against 
him. 

Then,  why  do  not  a hundred  of  the  leading 
citizens  band  together  and  buy  arms  and  start 
a revolution?  The  first  answer  is  that  the  United 
States  has  supported  the  side  of  the  party  in 
power  which  is  the  official  government,  regardless 
of  its  nature;  and  the  second  is  that  Cabrera  has 
the  leading  citizens  terrorized,  as  he  has  every 
one  else.  They  suspect  one  another;  co-ordina- 
tion is  impossible.  On  the  slightest  suspicion  by 
the  government  they  would  be  imprisoned.  Each 
one  is  hoping  that  he  can  avoid  arrest  and  save 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


91 


his  property;  and  therefore  it  is  difficult  to  get 
them  to  permit  their  names  to  go  with  their  state- 
ments, which  I have  taken  pains  to  minimize 
rather  than  exaggerate.  Not  only  the  offender 
himself,  but  his  relatives  and  friends  would  be 
made  to  suffer. 

“Recently  some  poor  tailors  of  Guatemala 
City,”  says  Dr.  Prowe,  “ventured  to  address  a 
humble  letter  to  the  President,  protesting  against 
having  to  furnish  without  pay  uniforms  for  the 
soldiers.  The  signers  to  this  petition  were  thrown 
into  jail,  were  flogged  nearly  to  death,  and  after- 
ward wrere  dragged  off  to  the  unhealthy  penal 
colony  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

“On  the  occasion  of  General  Davis’  visit -to 
Guatemala  some  ladies  of  Guatemala  dared  to 
intrust  to  the  American  envoy  a petition  to  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  protesting  against  the  law  less  exe- 
cutions, torture  and  imprisonment  of  their  hus- 
bands, sons  and  fathers.  As  a result  of  this  the 
male  relatives  of  these  ladies  were  hounded  by 
the  Guatemalan  police,  many  w'ere  dragged  to 
jail,  wrhile  the  others  had  to  flee  the  country. 
Their  property  wras  confiscated  by  Estrada 
Cabrera  and  converted  to  his  own  use.  Much  of 
the  real  estate  thus  confiscated  that  could  not  be 
sold  at  public  auction  was  assigned  to  Cabrera’s 
scapegrace  son  in  San  Francisco,  who  has  lately 
become  an  American  citizen.” 

The  official  newspaper,  El  Guatemalteca , pub- 


92 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


lishes  lists  of  confiscated  property  which  is  sold 
at  what  is  nominally  public  auction,  but  frequent- 
ly hid  in  at  ridiculous  prices  by  the  friends  of 
Cabrera.  Mrs.  Mary  Edith  Griswold  tells  of 
living  opposite  a house  from  which  the  owner  was 
evicted : 

“I  saw  the  poor  widow,  her  children,  and  the 
aged  members  of  her  family,  belonging  to  the 
best  society  of  Guatemala,  creep  out  of  their 
home.  A lady  who  knew  them  told  me  they  had 
nowhere  to  go.  Everything  they  owned  had  been 
taken.  The  wife  and  little  son  of  Dr.  Blanco,  one 
of  the  men  suspected  of  being  implicated  in  the 
plot  to  kill  Cabrera  with  a dynamite  bomb,  were 
flogged  almost  to  death.” 

The  old  families  and  the  well-to-do  native 
land-holders  generally  are  being  decimated.  If 
the  persecution  ended  here,  one  might  ascribe  it  to 
the  bitterness  of  class  war.  But  it  is  only  the 
beginning.  No  citizen  will  talk  freely  for  fear 
he  will  be  overheard  by  spies.  Suspicion  may 
amount  to  conviction  for  any  citizen,  rich  or  poor. 
Cabrera  lives  in.  fear  of  plots  among  his  office- 
holders and  they  in  fear  of  the  penalty  of  his  mis- 
trust. 

He  seems  certain  only  of  the  loyalty  of  a Ger- 
man officer  who  is  nominally  in  Guatemala  to 
drill  the  troops.  On  one  occasion,  when  the 
President  had  to  appear  in  public,  the  orders 
were  that  on  the  sign  of  the  slightest  hostile 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


93 


movement  toward  him,  Juan  Barrios,  the  secre- 
tary of  foreign  affairs,  and  two  other  members 
of  the  Cabinet,  were  to  be  shot  in  their  tracks; 
and  this  is  no  idle  after-dinner  tale,  but  came  from 
an  authority  who  wras  in  a position  to  know  and 
had  no  object  in  perverting  the  facts. 

Nominally  Guatemala  has  a most  liberal  Con- 
stitution, a liberal  code  of  laws,  free  speech  and 
a free  press,  and  a single-chamber  Congress  which 
meets  once  a year.  Cabrera  points  to  these  with 
pride,  as  the  politicians  say.  But  the  Constitu- 
tion has  little  more  application  than  the  picture- 
writings  on  the  monuments  of  the  Mayan  ruins. 
The  code  of  laws  is  interpreted  by  the  President, 
his  Cabinet  ministers,  or  jefes  politicos , to  suit 
the  occasion. 

Any  one  who  should  publicly  criticize  any  act 
of  the  administration  would  be  immediately  put 
in  jail.  It  is  the  business  of  all  editors  to  print 
frequent  long  disquisitions  on  the  glorious  career 
of  His  Excellency,  the  Most  Illustrious.  All 
foreign  news  dispatches  are  blue-penciled  by 
Cabrera  in  person  before  they  are  published.  The 
public  may  read  nothing  whatsoever  not  to  his 
taste.  Congress  is  an  annual  function  with  some 
oratory,  but  never  a word  in  criticism  of  an  ad- 
ministration act,  the  members  being  chosen  by 
Cabrera  himself.  How  does  he  find  the  time  for 
so  much  detail?  This  will  be  answered  in  an- 
other chapter,  where  I deal  with  the  routine  and 


94- 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


character  of  Central  American  dictators  in  gen- 
eral. 

If  you  want  the  truth,  cut  through  the  veneer 
of  politeness  to  any  foreign  visitor  whom  Cabrera 
wishes  to  appease,  or  in  whom  he  sees  a possibility 
of  gain  by  the  granting  of  a concession,  and  be- 
hold the  jefes  politicos  ruling  the  provinces,  in 
which  they  are  masters  of  life  and  death.  In  its 
working  principles  the  government  reverts  to  the 
Spanish  form,  wrhile  cities,  towns  and  communi- 
ties have  a smaller  measure  of  self-government 
than  under  the  captains-general ; and,  so  far  as 
we  may  judge  from  historical  data,  there  is  more 
corruption  and  brutality,  particularly  if  you  make 
a comparison  with  Spanish  rule  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  loyalty  to  religion  and  patriotic 
ideals  as  represented  in  nationality  and  king 
formed  some  restraint  on  sheer  cupidity. 

Nominally,  the  peonage  system  is  abolished. 
Actually,  it  has  been  rearranged  to  permit  of 
more  profit  for  the  official  and  less  for  the  planter 
and  the  Indian.  Nominally,  the  resident  laborer 
may  leave  the  plantation,  provided  he  is  out  of 
debt.  Should  he  start  to  go  he  is  confronted  with 
a contract  signed  under  duress,  which  he  does 
not  understand  further  than  that  the  j^ower  of 
the  jefe  is  back  of  it — if  the  planter  has  “ar- 
ranged” with  the  jefe.  The  following  is  a char- 
acteristic contract  between  a plantation  and  a 
mozo  (laborer),  who  agrees: 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


95 


1.  To  discharge  with  his  work  daily  and  per- 
sonally the  debt  contracted  on  this  finca. 

2.  To  do  every  class  of  work  after  the  customs 
established  on  the  finca. 

3.  To  absent  himself  from  the  finca  on  no  pre- 
text without  previous  permission  in  writing. 

4.  To  pay  all  expenses  made  necessary  in  case 
of  flight,  and  rendering  himself  subject  to  the 
proceedings  brought  against  him  through  the 
proper  authority. 

5.  To  remain  on  the  finca  eleven  months  of 
each  year. 

6.  To  subject  himself  to  all  articles  of  the  law 
of  laborers  decreed  by  the  government.  (Which 
means  that  he  must  remain  so  long  as  the  finca 
says  he  is  in  debt.) 

7.  The  loan  is  given  not  to  the  man,  but  to  his 
entire  family;  and  each  and  every  one  will  be 
individually  responsible  for  what  they  receive. 

8.  The  mozo  who  becomes  security  for  another 
v wzo  (be  it  man  or  woman)  assumes  the  same 
responsibilities  as  the  one  who  receives  the  loan. 

The  repartimiento  system  for  impressing  la- 
borers for  the  busy  season  flourishes  as  actively 
as  it  did  under  Alvarado.  A plantation  manager 
goes  to  the  jefe  politico  and  says  that  he  wants  a 
certain  number  of  men  for  a certain  length  of 
time.  A bargain  is  struck,  and  the  jefe  sends 
out  his  soldiers  to  bring  in  the  laborers,  who  get 
about  half  of  the  wages.  The  rest  goes  to  the 


96 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


jefe , who,  of  course,  has  his  soldiers  to  feed.  They 
are  never  paid. 

Through  four  centuries  the  Indians,  from  the 
inferior  types  of  the  lowlands  to  the  superior 
class  of  sheep-herders  of  the  highlands,  have 
yielded  passive  obedience  to  one  master  and  an- 
other. The  honesty  and  loyalty  of  the  highland- 
ers are  never  in  dispute.  A foreigner  said  to  me 
that  he  would  rather  trust  a sum  of  money  for 
safe  keeping  to  any  mountain  Indian  than  to 
most  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet. 

The  ladino  ruler  insists  that  the  Indian  is 
stupid.  But  possibly  he  has  found  stupidity  the 
line  of  least  resistance  for  so  long  that  it  has  be- 
come habitual.  In  his  heart,  doubtless,  he  has 
the  same  contempt  for  the  half-caste  that  the  aris- 
tocratic half-caste  has  for  him.  The  town  In- 
dians are  tricky  and  degenerate.  Those  of  the  re- 
mote mountain  districts  are  simple-minded  and 
virile;  and  in  type  tall,  bronze,  with  coarse  black 
hair,  high  cheekbones  and  frequently  aquiline 
noses.  Both  men  and  women  are  hardy  and 
enduring.  Life  in  many  a mountain  valley  re- 
mains little  changed  from  the  days  of  their 
Mayan  ancestors.  The  people  pay  their  tribute 
to  CfEsar  when  need  be  and  cling  to  their  tradi- 
tions. No  missionary  ever  comes  to  their  doors. 
A rich  field  of  ethnological  study  is  almost  neg- 
lected, while  the  remnants  of  the  North  American 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


97 


Indian  tribes  are  pursued  by  scientist,  philan- 
thropist, tourist  and  photographer. 

Probably  half  of  the  population  of  Guatemala 
speaks  no  Spanish.  The  Estrada  Cabrera  schools 
are  not  for  the  Indians.  Many  of  the  school- 
houses  which  he  has  built  have  neither  pupils  nor 
teachers.  His  opponents  say  that  actual  accom- 
plishment is  limited  to  a show  program  in  the 
capital  to  impress  visitors.  Certainly,  the  Uni- 
sersity  of  Guatemala,  which  was  once  the  princi- 
pal seat  of  learning  in  Central  America,  has 
deteriorated.  Pupils  are  not  coming  from  other 
countries  to  risk  arrest  as  political  conspirators 
if  they  are  seen  in  the  company  of  citizens  who 
are  political  enemies  of  the  ruler. 

From  the  travels  of  Stephens,  Squier,  Scherzer, 
Froebel,  Morelet,  and  others,  I should  judge  that 
general  educational  facilities  were  probably  as 
good  under  Carrera  and  Rufino  Barrios,  for  their 
time,  as  they  are  to-day.  Besides  the  university 
and  the  Tridentine  College,  founded  in  1690, 
with  chairs  of  Greek,  Latin,  mathematics  and 
philosophy,  Morelet,  who  was  in  Central  America 
sixty  years  ago,  mentions  an  excellent  hospital 
endowed  by  the  Spanish  with  the  profits  from 
bullfights,  twenty-seven  common  schools,  eleven 
for  boys  and  sixteen  for  girls,  and  special  schools 
for  the  working  classes,  which  had  the  same  object 
as  the  present  boasted  escuelas  practicas.  But 
granting  Cabrera  good  intentions  and  some  prog- 


98 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ress,  you  have  the  one  ray  of  light  in  the  dark- 
ness of  that  political  system  which  he  inherited 
and  which  holds  him  and  the  whole  land  by  the 
throat. 

The  Indians’  obligatory  faith  in  a piece  of 
stamped  paper  forms  about  the  only  real  back- 
ing of  Guatemalan  currency.  A banker  told  me 
that  there  might  be  three  or  four  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars’  worth  of  silver  in  the  country  against 
an  issue  of  $65,000,000  in  paper.  At  the  time 
Cabrera  took  office  ten  years  ago  the  Guatemalan 
dollar  was  worth  thirty-five  cents  in  American 
gold.  It  varied  during  my  stay  from  six  to  seven 
cents,  and  had  been  as  low  as  five.  When  I asked 
him  what  peculiar  conditions  prevailed  in  Guate- 
mala that  warranted  this  flood  of  greenbacks, 
Cabrera  answered  blandly: 

“It  is  a good  thing  for  business.  You  see,  the 
planters  get  the  workers  for  wages  in  Guatemala 
currency,  while  they  sell  their  products  for  gold.” 

But  on  leaving  the  country  my  baggage  was 
searched  for  silver.  Rather  than  lose  the  little 
metallic  coinage  which  remains  within  his  borders, 
lie  has  passed  a law  preventing  its  further  export. 

When  I asked  him  for  light  on  the  economic 
policy  of  taxation  of  the  country’s  leading  prod- 
uct, coffee,  which  might  be  grown  in  much  larger 
quantities  if  there  were  no  export  duties,  he  an- 
swered, still  blandly: 

“You  see,  that  is  the  only  way  I can  protect 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


99 


mv  people  from  the  foreign  planters.  On  every 
quintal  I get  a dollar  for  our  Guatemalans  which 
otherwise  would  go  to  the  hankers  of  Hamburg.” 

And  that  dollar  must  he  paid  in  gold.  It  is 
one  source  of  real  metallic  taxation.  But  the 
jefes , officials,  soldiers  and  government  em- 
ployees get  nothing  of  it.  Their  salaries  are  mis- 
erably low,  which  is  immaterial,  as  they  are  so 
seldom  paid.  Each  office-holder,  including  the 
judges,  is  expected  to  find  his  profit  in  his 
perquisites.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  all  pay  was 
months  in  arrears,  while  the  Italian  opera  com- 
pany playing  at  the  official  Teatro  Colon,  the 
city’s  architectural  boast,  its  exterior  modeled 
after  the  Madeleine  in  Paris,  had  received  a sub- 
sidy of  $40,000  gold  from  a government  which 
was  hypothecating  its  coffee  taxes  months  before 
they  were  collected.  Here  every  evening  you 
might  see  Guatemalan  official  society  in  its  best 
attire,  less  brilliant,  I was  told,  than  in  the  old 
days  before  confiscation  had  laid  its  hand  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  well-to-do.  Cabrera  could  not 
expose  himself  by  attending;  all  his  liberality 
was  in  behalf  of  others. 

His  boast  is  that  while  Zelaya,  of  Nicara- 
gua, kept  everything  for  his  Paris  bank  account, 
Guatemala  is  fortunate  in  a ruler  who  spends 
some  of  his  gains  at  home — though  not  all,  if  any 
of  the  varying  estimates  of  a fortune  of  from 
three  to  twenty  millions,  which  he  has  accumu- 


100 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


lated  in  ten  years,  be  true.  While  Zelaya  af- 
fronted foreigners,  Cabrera  has  been  exceedingly 
careful  of  the  susceptibilities  of  Americans  of 
influence,  and  harder  on  his  own  “subjects,”  prob- 
ably, than  Zelaya.  He  spent  vast  sums  on  the 
entertainment  of  the  Pan-American  Medical 
Congress,  and,  later,  on  our  Pacific  cruiser  squad- 
ron, when  our  navy  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
Guatemala  through  the  official  glass  with  which 
we  are  already  familiar.  He  gives  extravagant 
fiestas  on  national  holidays  as  an  offset  to  the 
church  holidays. 

Among  foreigners  who  have  or  expect  to  re- 
ceive concessions  he  has  many  apologists.  One 
of  them  is  a well-known  member  of  Congress  and 
of  Tammany  Hall.  Frequently  the  concession- 
aire changes  his  view  after  his  money  is  paid  and 
practical  work  begins.  For  example,  as  a side 
light  on  conditions,  the  development  of  a mica 
mine  was  halted  by  the  prohibition  of  the  importa- 
tion of  dynamite,  which,  the  President  feared, 
might  be  used  as  a means  for  assassination.  The 
resident  foreigner,  whatever  he  says  in  private, 
knows  that  his  business  depends  on  favor;  and  the 
plantation  owner  and  the  organizer  of  industry 
finds  labor,  such  as  it  is,  procurable  thanks  to 
impressment. 

All  development  whatsoever  is  in  the  hands  of 
outsiders.  The  new'  Northern  Railway,  which 
connects  the  capital  with  the  east  coast  at  Puerto 


THE  UNOFFICIAL  SIDE 


IOT 


Bawios,  put  a line  of  steel  across  the  land  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  There  is  no  telling 
how  valuable  may  he  its  franchise  if  Guatemala 
shall  ever  join  in  the  march  of  progress.  The 
large,  isolated  province  of  Peten,  which  extends 
into  the  heart  of  southern  Mexico,  is  rich  in  hard- 
woods and  at  the  door  of  a great  market. 

A nation  equal  in  area  to  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania wants  only  the  touch  of  the  magic  of  good 
government  to  be  a paradise.  No  city  that  I 
have  ever  seen  has  a fairer  situation  than  its 
capital,  with  its  climate  of  eternal  spring,  five 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  surrounded  by  Alban 
hills  under  silver  clouds  that  are  ever  rolling  and 
tumbling,  and  which  has  no  more  population  than 
it  had  a hundred  years  ago,  when  Chicago  was  a 
swamp. 

It  is  a country  of  the  gods,  fit  home  for  the 
aboriginal  civilization  of  a continent.  Had  it 
had  anything  like  a fair  chance,  the  German 
steamers  that  take  well-to-do  Americans  on  win- 
ter cruises  would  pass  by  the  islands  of  the  Carib- 
bean. Our  tourists  would  be  seeing  the  beauties 
of  Lake  Atitlan,  taking  horseback  rides  on  fine 
roads,  lounging  on  the  verandas  of  hotels  in  the 
delicious  sunshine,  or  ascending  the  heights  to 
catch  a glimpse  of  the  Pacific  as  a misty  floor 
merging  into  the  sky. 


CHAPTER  TEN 


SALVADOR,  THE  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC 

T^OR  company  on  the  clay  that  I left  Guate- 
mala  City  I had  Sehor  Morales,  who  had 
seen  much  of  the  world,  with  manners  to  carry 
him  anywhere.  Home  politics  were  quite  out 
of  his  domain,  his  career  having  been  given  to 
diplomatic  errands. 

Now  he  was  going  into  the  lion’s  mouth  on  a 
mission  from  Cabrera,  the  great  man  of  Guate- 
mala, to  Zelaya,  the  great  man  of  Nicaragua. 
Gossip  of  the  two  capitals  was  as  busy  over  this 
portentous  event  as  that  of  Europe  and  America 
over  the  Portsmouth  Peace  Conference  a few 
years  ago.  The  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and 
all  the  leading  public  men,  saw  the  plenipoten- 
tiary off  in  a special  car;  and  at  Escuintla  the 
alcalde  gave  him  a banquet  in  place  of  a lunch. 
That  alcalde , browned  as  he  Avas  by  the  sun,  had 
a positive  Teutonic  cast  of  countenance.  I found 
that  he  was  a German  who  had  been  in  the  coun- 
try for  thirty-five  years.  He  was  thoroughly 
Guatemalicized,  if  I may  use  the  word,  and 
“played  the  game”  with  a skill,  it  was  said,  of 

102 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  103 


which  the  most  adroit  native  politicians  might  not 
be  ashamed. 

Slowly,  over  many  curves,  among  the  heights, 
the  train  descended  into  the  hot  air  of  the  low- 
lands. At  San  Jose  de  Guatemala,  which  re- 
called memories  of  Champerico  where  I had 
landed,  official  permission  was  granted  to  leave 
the  country,  and  my  baggage  was  searched  for 
any  Guatemalan  silver  coins.  Then  the  polyglot 
lot  of  passengers,  including  a French  drummer, 
a German  planter,  an  American  prospector,  a 
political  enemy  whom  Cabrera  had  exiled,  and  the 
Japanese  major,  who  had  again  become  my  trav- 
eling companion,  were  put  in  a lighter  and  towed 
out,  to  be  hoisted  up  in  groups  of  four  in  the  pul- 
ley chair  on  to  the  deck  of  an  antediluvian  of  the 
Pacific  Mail.  Thirty-five  years  of  age,  after 
graduation  from  the  Atlantic  service  and  a post- 
graduate course  on  the  Pacific,  she  had  come  for 
her  swan  song  before  superannuation  to  Central 
American  waters. 

Her  captain  was  a type  of  the  old  American 
merchant  service,  well  read  and  well  trained,  who 
had  gone  before  the  mast  in  the  days  when  it 
never  occurred  to  any  one  that  our  colors  would 
be  driven  from  the  seas.  His  hope  was  that  he 
might  yet  have  the  good  luck  to  get  the  happy 
China  run,  with  its  long  cruises  between  ports,  the 
chance  to  keep  really  clean  and  shipshape  again, 
and  an  end  of  all  the  petty  annoyances  from 


104 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Central  American  officials,  who  may,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  authority,  keep  a steamer  waiting 
while  they  have  a siesta  or  in  order  that  a friend 
lip-country  may  arrive  to  go  aboard.  There  was 
something  noble  in  his  patience,  which  may  have 
been  the  reason  that  the  manager  of  the  line  kept 
him  on  this  run  and  left  less  troublesome  routes 
to  more  hot-tempered  skippers. 

“God  help  you!”  said  the  steward,  as  he  gave 
the  major  and  myself  the  only  vacant  cabin,  mid- 
ship, with  no  porthole.  The  door  opened  aft  so 
that  no  breeze  could  possibly  enter.  I could  see 
that  the  major  had  in  mind  the  steamers  flying 
his  own  flag  and  the  flags  of  other  nations,  spe- 
cially built  for  tropical  service,  which  ply  south 
from  Hong  Kong  to  the  benighted  islands  of 
the  Asiatic  seas,  where  peace  and  the  develop- 
ment of  resources  are  the  results  of  colonial  gov- 
ernment. 

The  members  of  the  Spanish  theatrical  com- 
pany which  had  been  playing  at  Salina  Cruz  were 
overrunning  decks  and  gangways  with  rampant 
bohemianism  and  in  the  midst  of  the  composi- 
tion of  an  eloquent  petition  of  protest  (passages 
of  which  they  repeated  to  one  another  in  their 
sonorous,  rolling  Castilian,  in  rich  contrast  to 
the  dental  Spanish  of  the  country)  because  the 
cooking  wTas  not  Spanish.  There  wTas  no  season- 
ing, no  taste  to  it.  The  heavy  tragedian  com- 
plained at  the  sharp  knives ; he  had  cut  his  mouth 


Disembarking  in  a pulley  chair  on  the  west  coast 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  105 


badly.  Bid  the  major,  who,  at  Escuintla,  had 
taken  a spoonful  of  soup  and  a forkful  of  rice 
saturated  with  bacon  grease  and  fallen  back  on 
bread  and  oranges,  had  his  innings.  It  was  a 
delight  to  see  him  set  to  in  the  confidence,  as  he 
said,  that  the  kitchen  was  clean.  If  there  is  any 
one  to  whom  filth  and  disorder  are  abhorrent  it 
is  the  modern  Japanese  officer.  Plainly,  he  was 
weary  of  Central  America.  The  only  conditions 
under  which  he  would  care  to  return,  I am  sure, 
wTould  be  the  same  that  took  the  Japanese  to 
F ormosa. 

Sleep  in  the  Turkish  bath  of  our  room  was  out 
of  the  question.  We  lay  down  on  the  upper  deck 
and  fell  asleep  after  the  short  run,  with  the 
steamer  at  anchor  and  the  flames  of  the  volcano 
Izalco  flashing  out  of  the  sky.  We  did  not  have 
to  wait  on  the  dependable  alarm  clock  of  the 
ship’s  morning  noises,  but  were  awakened  by  the 
clinging  mist  blanketing  the  tropical  sea,  which 
grows  chill  and  penetrating  before  dawn.  Ashore 
was  another  spider  pier,  another  group  of  build- 
ings hugging  the  beach — the  port  of  Acajutla, 
in  Salvador. 

When  you  look  for  Salvador  on  the  map  be 
sure  not  to  hide  it  with  your  finger  tip.  It  is 
the  pocket  edition — the  smallest  republic  on  the 
western  hemisphere,  with  the  most  people  of  any 
for  its  size;  but  larger  than  Comiecticut,  about 
equal  to  New  Jersey,  a little  larger  than  all  the 


106 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Hawaiian  Islands,  and  a good  deal  larger  than 
Porto  Rico.  The  density  of  population,  while 
less  than  that  of  Porto  Rico,  is  six  times  that  of 
the  United  States,  one  and  a half  times  that  of 
Spain,  three  times  that  of  Guatemala,  its  neigh- 
bor, and  eight  times  that  of  Nicaragua. 

From  Salvador  came  the  first  indigo  ever  used 
for  dyes.  The  balsam  of  medicine  is  exclusively 
a Salvadorian  product.  Salvador  is  the  only  na- 
tion on  the  North  American  hemisphere  which  is 
not  a transcontinental  cross  section,  while  Colom- 
bia is  the  only  one  in  South  America  which  is. 

Though  Salvador  has  no  lowlands  on  the  At- 
lantic side  to  balance  her  lowlands  on  the  Pacific 
side,  and  despite  her  earthquakes  and  the  pos- 
session— still  another  distinction — of  the  only 
active  volcano  in  Central  America,  which  is  al- 
ways smoking,  rumbling  and  flaming,  she  con- 
siders herself  securely  nailed  to  the  Cordilleran 
range  and  not  in  the  slightest  danger  of  slipping 
off  into  the  sea. 

And  Salvador  suffers  from  characteristic  Cen- 
tral American  maladies.  Ex-President  Re- 
gallado,  for  example,  had  no  more  official  position 
than  a retired  general  of  any  army.  But  political- 
ly he  belonged  to  the  “outs.”  Whenever  he  went 
on  one  of  his  long  sprees  his  cry  was  for  some- 
thing to  break  the  monotony  of  orderly  govern- 
ment. While  he  lived  the  old  customs  should  not 
die  out,  and  the  army  thought  him  a devil  of  a 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  107 


fellow  and  unconquerable — especially  when  in- 
toxicated. 

Early  one  morning  in  the  spring  of  1906  he 
planted  the  artillery  in  the  plaza  and  blew  off  the 
front  of  the  Salvadorian  White  House.  Ilis  ac- 
tion was  primarily  due  to  his  personal  dislike  of 
Escalon,  who  was  President  at  the  time.  Hav- 
ing paid  this  grudge,  he  set  out  to  pay  another. 
That  Cabrera,  of  Guatemala,  was  a mean,  half- 
caste  Indian,  who  deserved  to  have  his  face 
slapped.  So  Regallado  led  the  troops  across  the 
Guatemalan  frontier  without  any  declaration  of 
war.  He  had  not  yet  sobered  up  when  he  was 
killed  in  battle,  while  the  issue  of  the  war  was  still 
undecided  at  the  time  that  Secretary  Root 
proffered  his  “good  offices.” 

In  1907  Zelaya,  of  Nicaragua,  was  wroth  with 
Figueroa,  then  President  of  Salvador.  He  said 
that  Salvador  had  broken  a secret  pact  made  at 
Corinto  with  him.  Actually,  he  wanted  to  strike 
a blow  at  his  great  rival  Cabrera,  through 
Cabrera’s  ally.  He  took  care  not  to  precede  hos- 
tilities with  any  notice  of  his  intentions.  A dec- 
laration of  war  is  bound  to  warn  the  enemy  of 
your  approach,  and  plainly  destroys  the  value  of 
a surprise,  which  every  one  agrees  is  one  of  the 
most  important  elements  of  military  strategy. 

Zelaya  found  an  ally  in  Tomasso  Alfaro,  ex- 
President,  and  recognized  as  Salvador’s  leading 
revolutionist;  in  fact,  one  of  the  foremost  peri- 


108 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


patetic  revolutionists  in  all  Central  America.  He 
had  a quota  of  followers,  consisting  of  a staff 
ready  to  wear  brilliant  uniforms  as  soon  as  they 
had  the  wherewithal  to  buy  them. 

With  them,  a band  of  Nicaraguan  soldiers,  and 
a Nicaraguan  commander  a landing  was  made 
from  the  Nicaraguan  gunboat  Momotombo  at 
Acajutla.  Marching  inland,  the  invaders  cap- 
tured Sonsonate,  a town  on  the  railroad  half  way 
to  the  capital.  They  were  beaten,  but  took  away 
$25,000  in  silver  as  part  of  their  loot.  Alfaro 
thought  that  the  money  belonged  to  him,  but 
Zelaya  took  it  for  the  expenses  of  his  expedition. 
It  seems  that,  in  this  instance,  Zelaya  had  justice 
on  his  side.  Had  he  not  fearlessly  risked  his  navy 
by  getting  up  steam? 

In  spite  of  such  occurrences,  Salvador  has  the 
most  stable  government  of  any  republic  in  Cen- 
tral America,  except  Costa  Rica. 

One  felt  at  once  that  he  was  in  a different  at- 
mosphere from  Guatemala.  The  buildings  at 
Acajutla  were  not  so  dilapidated  as  at  San  .Tose 
and  Champerico;  the  officials  less  truculent  and 
better  dressed.  One  of  our  lay  passengers  by 
rail  from  Guatemala  City  to  the  coast  and  thence 
by  steamer,  when  he  came  out  of  his  room  at  the 
hotel  at  Acajutla  appeared  in  a cassock.  In 
Guatemala  it  is  against  the  law  for  the  clergy 
to  wear  their  vestments  in  public.  Salvador  never 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  109 

confiscated  the  property  of  the  Church  or  offi- 
cially made  war  on  any  religion. 

When  you  came  to  buy  your  ticket  at  the  sta- 
tion you  met  with  a new  rate  of  exchange.  In- 
stead of  fifteen  or  sixteen  dollars,  a gold  dollar 
brought  a return  of  only  two  dollars  and 
forty-seven  cents,  with  the  fraction  in  silver 
rather  than  in  paper.  Throughout  Mexico  and 
Guatemala  all  the  train  conductors  and  engineers 
had  been  foreigners,  usually  Americans.  In  Sal- 
vador they  were  natives.  This  was  a first  sign 
of  competency  not  to  be  underestimated. 

The  Salvadorian  has  enough  sense  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  labor  not  to  take  a holiday  without  in- 
forming the  yardmaster  before  he  is  due  to  take 
out  a train.  Yet  he  has  no  more  white  blood  than 
the  Mexican  or  the  Guatemalan  creole,  who  can- 
not be  entrusted  with  responsibility.  His  abo- 
riginal ancestors  were  of  no  higher  type.  The 
environment  of  time  is  purely  responsible  for  the 
difference;  not  the  climate,  by  any  means.  For 
the  Salvadorian  highlands  have  not  the  altitude 
of  those  of  Guatemala. 

In  Salvador  City  the  cathedral  of  wood,  paint- 
ed stone  color — for  the  old  capital  of  65,000 
people  was  once  destroyed  by  earthquake — was 
wrell  kept ; an  air  of  peace  and  happiness  prevailed 
among  the  people,  who  wrent  to  church  in  the 
morning  and  sauntered  in  the  plaza  to  hear  the 
music  in  the  evening.  Apparently  they  did  not 


110 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


fear  arrest  on  suspicion  of  plotting  to  assassinate 
the  President  if  they  gathered  in  groups.  The 
foreign  residents  spoke  candidly  of  political  con- 
ditions ; and  if  they  took  you  behind  closed  doors, 
their  tales  of  oppression  were  mild  beside  those 
you  had  heard  in  Guatemala. 

An  inclination  to  make  an  obeisance  to  the 
manager  of  the  Hotel  Nuevo  Mundo  was  al- 
most irresistible.  A pleasant,  middle-aged  Ger- 
man, he  sat  in  the  cafe  playing  chess  when  there 
was  no  work  to  do;  and  about  the  door  loitered 
none  of  the  hard-looking  reprobates  of  the  Presi- 
dential secret  service  always  in  evidence  at  the 
door  of  the  Grand  Hotel  in  Guatemala.  General 
utility  napkins  and  towels  were  not  the  rule.  To 
the  insistent,  busy  American  traveler  it  was  grati- 
fying to  find  that  the  servants  responded  to  a 
pleasant  word.  The  natives,  as  a rule,  seemed 
glad  to  earn  money,  while  the  Guatemalans 
had  reached  a state  of  listlessness  beyond  even 
this  appeal. 

Under  monetary  encouragement  it  was  easy  to 
count  on  the  quick-witted  porter  to  waken  me  at 
four  for  my  ride  to  La  Libertad  to  catch  the 
steamer.  He  and  all  the  others  had  a poor  idea 
of  the  Guatemalans,  I found  on  inquiry.  Guate- 
mala is  the  ancient  enemy,  which  has  bred  in  the 
Salvadorian  a real  patriotic  impulse,  ever  directed 
against  conquest. 

With  a population  of  1,200,000,  second  in  num- 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  111 


ber  among-  the  Central  American  republics  only 
to  Guatemala,  Salvador  has  always  been  able  to 
defend  herself  from  her  larger  neighbor.  Her 
people  in  their  formative  period  had  kinder  Span- 
ish captains-general ; they  had  never  suffered 
from  the  rapacity  of  large  land  owners,  who 
treated  the  workers  as  slaves;  they  have  partly 
escaped  the  cupidity  of  the  dictatorships  of  the 
later  and  most  awful  period  of  Central  American 
history.  Though  elections  are  a farce,  public 
opinion  has  some  effect.  The  quarrels  of  poli- 
ticians have  permitted  something  like  rotation  in 
office.  No  one  of  the  statesmen  has  accumulated 
a vast  amount  of  graft;  many  have  accumulated 
small  fortunes. 

But  Salvador’s  independence  is  now  jeopard- 
ized. Though  Cabrera,  the  ambitious  dictator 
of  Guatemala,  has  not  beaten  the  little  republic 
in  the  field,  she  is  his  vassal,  whom  he  bullies  as 
it  pleases  him.  Figueroa,  the  weak  Salvadorian 
President,  is  his  man;  his  cunning  hand  is  play- 
ing all  the  time  in  Salvadorian  politics  under  pre- 
tense of  protecting  his  little  neighbor  from  the 
wicked  Zelaya  of  Nicaragua.  Guatemala  and 
Salvador  must  stand  together,  he  says,  to  keep 
Zelaya  from  becoming  master  of  Honduras, 
where  Zelaya’s  man,  Davila,  is  President.  With 
Zelaya  out  of  the  way,  another  excuse  will  suffice. 
The  Salvadorian  submits  to  all  this  marplotting 
by  his  extravagant  ruler  as  “higher  politics,”  be- 


112 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


yond  his  comprehension,  while  he  pajrs  for  addi- 
tional soldiers  and  arms  which  Cabrera  thinks  are 
necessary. 

Salvador  is  being  dragged  down  to  the  level 
of  the  other  States.  Conditions  are  growing 
worse,  economically  as  well  as  politically.  On  the 
700,000  quintals  of  coffee  produced  every  year, 
each  quintal  pays  a tax  of  40  cents  in  gold.  Sugar 
is  free  of  export  charges  as  yet,  and  a little  is 
shipped  to  Ecuador  and  to  Europe.  With  no 
access  to  our  Atlantic  coast,  there  is  no  market 
for  Salvadorian  fruit.  All  imports  must  come 
from  our  Pacific  coast  States  or  by  way  of  Ma- 
gellan or  Panama,  for  want  of  railroad  connec- 
tion through  Guatemala.  The  cry  of  the  tariff 
reformer  has  not  yet  been  heard  in  the  land,  where 
the  only  manufactures  are  from  an  occasional 
handloom. 

Duties  are  the  heaviest  of  any  country  in  the 
world,  and  are  arranged  on  a system  to  encour- 
age official  favoritism  in  return  for  bribes.  They 
are  mostly  according  to  weight,  with  a pound  of 
barbed  wire  paying  almost  as  much  as  a pound 
of  lace.  On  top  of  this  is  a special  tax  of  240  per 
cent,  and  still  another  bonos  oro  of  360  per  cent, 
put  on  for  war  purposes.  Flour  which  costs  in 
San  Francisco  $6  a barrel  in  Salvador  costs  about 
$12;  a case  of  coal  oil  that  costs  $1  in  New  York 
costs  $7  laid  down  in  Salvador.  No  wonder  the 


SALVADOR,  SMALLEST  REPUBLIC  118 


Salvadorian  eats  little  bread;  no  wonder  he  goes 
to  bed  early. 

But  while  the  tropical  rains  continue  to  fall, 
no  amount  of  misgovernment  can  destroy  the 
fertility  of  the  Salvadorian  soil.  It  has  a lesson 
for  the  rest  of  Central  America  in  the  number 
of  human  beings  who  exist  to  the  square  mile — 
the  largest  of  any  Christian  country  which  has 
no  manufactures  except  Porto  Rico.  This  num- 
ber could  be  doubled. 

The  secret  of  the  Salvadorian’s  relative  happi- 
ness and  content  I found  on  my  ride  across  the 
country,  when  I passed  plot  after  plot  of  coffee 
ground  as  large  as  village  squares,  each  owned 
and  worked  by  some  peasant  proprietor. 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 

T T requires  real  fortitude  not  to  grow  poetic 
about  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca.  Have  you  ever 
heard  of  it?  If  not,  look  along  the  west  coast 
of  America  until  you  come  to  a piece  of  blue, 
island  locked,  where  the  boundaries  of  Salvador 
and  Honduras  run  into  the  water.  You  will  see 
at  once  why  powerful  interests  who  like  to  imag- 
ine that  they  can  look  ahead  fifty  years  with  the 
prescience  of  our  pioneer  railroad  builders  have 
fought  for  terminal  privileges  at  the  best  anchor- 
age between  San  Francisco  and  Panama. 

It  is  a rare  gift  of  the  Pacific,  so  ungenerous  in 
harbors  on  the  Californian,  Chilean  and  Mexican 
coasts,  to  a section  of  country  in  which  commerce 
languishes.  If  Los  Angeles  had  Fonseca  at  San 
Pedro,  where  we  are  spending  millions  in  a break- 
water, the  Golden  Gate  would  have  a rival  in 
beauty  and  value.  A fleet  in  command  of  the 
sea  would  be  drawn  as  a magnet  to  this  naval 
base.  Its  strategic  importance  is  indisputable. 

After  anchorages  in  the  open  before  surf  bil- 
lowing along  a straight  beach,  still  water  mirror- 

114 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


115 


ing  the  hills  had  the  enchantment  of  a mirage  to 
the  traveler  in  the  desert;  but  descending  to  the 
shore  by  the  gangway  instead  of  in  the  pulley 
chair  was  a detail  of  convincing  reality.  Nature 
is  unmolested  except  for  the  few  houses  on  the 
shore  line  at  La  Union  in  Salvador.  Another 
stretch  of  buildings,  Amapala,  Honduras,  is  set 
like  a piece  of  fringe  at  the  base  of  an  island  which 
rises  in  a cone  almost  as  symmetrical  as  that 
formed  by  a trickle  of  sand  from  the  hand. 

Whoever  would  see  F onseca  in  its  glory  should 
go  down  the  west  coast  in  the  rainy  season;  but 
if  you  wish  to  travel  inland,  choose  the  dry  season, 
when  the  foliage,  massy  thick  as  the  pile  of  some 
deep  green  carpet,  becomes  parched  by  the  blaz- 
ing sun,  and  the  trails  are  hard.  My  own  was 
a drenching  experience  in  that  country,  which  is 
as  large  as  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  has  only 
fifty-seven  miles  of  railroad,  which  are  on  the 
Pacific  side.  Tegucigalpa,  the  capital,  is  one 
hundred  miles  from  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca  and  two 
hundred  miles  from  Puerto  Caballos,  the  Atlan- 
tic port.  My  introduction  to  the  Central  Ameri- 
can mule  in  Salvador  was  now  to  grow  to  a 
familiar  acquaintance,  amounting  to  the  friend- 
liest feeling  on  my  part,  though  perfect  philo- 
sophic impersonality  on  his. 

Our  steamer  had  no  passengers  for  La  Union, 
and  the  discharge  of  the  two  tons  of  freight  occu- 
pied about  one-tenth  of  the  time  of  the  official 


116 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


formalities.  Amapala,  so  picturesque  from  the 
steamer’s  deck,  is  a sad  disillusion  ashore.  That 
castellated  building  facing  the  little  pier  was  a 
general  store  rather  than  the  comandancia,  and 
its  Austro-American  owner,  Air.  Mott,  is  com- 
mercial lord  of  the  land. 

F or  the  sake  of  all  future  travelers,  I pray  that 
he  may  yet  embark  in  the  hotel  business.  The 
Hotel  Morazan  is  the  worst  I encountered  in 
Central  America.  A row  of  rooms  faces  the 
street  and  looks  out  on  the  kitchen  and  pigsty, 
while  the  cook  throws  the  slops  beside  the  dining- 
room table.  Her  liberal  use  of  garlic  in  every 
dish  could  not  have  been  for  purposes  of  season- 
ing alone.  It  had  the  ulterior  motive  of  conceal- 
ing something  worse. 

We  hear  much  of  the  deadliness  of  the  tropics, 
without  considering  human  conditions.  By 
nature  Amapala  must  be  most  healthy,  for  both 
the  Mexican  consul  and  his  clerk  seemed  well 
inured  to  the  surroundings  and  the  fare.  The 
clerk,  born  of  English  parents  in  Nicaragua,  had 
spent  all  his  life  in  these  countries,  and  I fear 
his  official  position  was  purely  an  honorary  ex- 
pression of  the  consul’s  esteem.  He  said  that 
he  was  looking  for  a connection  with  American 
houses,  or  any  “business  opportunities  whatso- 
ever that  might  appear.”  While  we  ate  our  din- 
ner a lunatic  was  rambling  about  the  place,  mum- 
bling and  gesturing. 


Amapala,  in  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca,  principal  western  port  of  Honduras 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD  117 

“You  see  that  there  is  no  institution  for  the 
care  of  the  insane,”  explained  the  Englishman. 
“Honduras  was  never  so  poor  and  helpless  as  it 
is  to-day.” 

The  bedrooms  were  without  windows ; the  beds 
without  sheets.  And  the  mattress?  Words  fail! 
If  you  wished  any  air  you  must  leave  the  doors 
open.  Between  the  pigs  and  the  lunatic  in  the 
court  and  the  possibility  of  thieves  from  the 
street,  I decided,  after  counsel,  to  take  my  chances 
from  exterior  invasion  and  leave  the  door  open 
into  the  street.  Both  the  consul  and  the  English- 
man explained  that  this  was  perfectly  safe. 
Everybody,  they  assured  me,  was  abed  at  nine, 
and  oil  was  expensive.  Who  would  burn  it  un- 
less he  were  plotting  destruction  of  the  govern- 
ment? Who  would  confess  his  wealth  by  such 
extravagance?  Who  would  steal  anything  of 
value  when  he  knew  that  an  official  would  take  it 
for  himself  and  keep  the  thief  in  jail? 

If  you  wanted  to  change  money,  to  arrange 
for  transportation,  to  buy  supplies,  or  to  set- 
tle a difference  with  the  comandante,  see  the 
Austro- American  storekeeper.  For  one  thing, 
the  government  was  under  obligations  to  him.  It 
owed  him  a good  deal  of  money. 

For  plying  to  the  mainland  he  had  two  gaso- 
line launches.  One  was  out  of  commission  and 
the  other  had  started  the  previous  afternoon  for 
San  Lorenzo,  the  trail  head  to  Tegucigalpa.  But 


118 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


it  had  broken  down,  and  M.  Nordman,  the 
French  drummer,  after  being  out  all  night,  had 
returned  to  Amapala.  After  it  was  repaired  he 
was  in  such  a hurry  to  get  away  from  the  Hotel 
Morazan  and  in  pursuit  of  his  samples,  which  had 
gone  on  by  bullock  cart,  that  he  did  not  give  me 
time  to  get  some  money  changed  and  to  pack  and 
store  my  trunk  in  order  to  accompany  him.  Mr. 
Mott  provided  a safer  way  with  four  oarsmen  and 
a boat. 

We  pulled  out  past  an  island  where  countless 
pelicans  had  their  rookeries,  and  in  the  stretch  of 
the  Bay  of  San  Lorenzo  we  caught  a quartering 
breeze  that  sent  us  spinning.  The  pelicans,  so 
amiably  awkward  when  they  sat  on  the  beach  or 
on  a limb,  sailing  overhead  with  wings  steady  as 
the  canvas  of  our  mainsail,  would  dip  suddenly, 
their  fantastic  beaks  turning  to  leaded  arrow- 
heads that  shot  into  the  water.  They  emerged 
sometimes  with  a fish,  sometimes  without,  return- 
ing to  the  patrol  duty  of  the  chase  if  hunger  was 
still  unappeased.  A long,  level  beach,  which 
would  be  an  automobilist’s  paradise,  lay  to  the 
south,  and  a stretch  of  marsh  to  the  east,  with 
the  mountains  bluish  phantoms  in  the  distance. 

Three-quarters  of  the  way  across  we  passed 
M.  Nordman  in  the  launch,  which  had  broken 
down  again  and  was  proceeding  under  the  slow 
propulsion  of  two  highly  disgusted  hombres  at 
the  oars.  Suddenly  our  sails  drooped  as  we  came 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


119 


Hit  of  the  current  of  wind  into  a bayou.  The 
shores  were  not  marked  by  land,  but  by  trees 
with  stiltlike  roots  which  sank  into  the  mud  be- 
neath the  surface  of  the  water-covered  morass. 
Their  foothold  seemed  most  precarious,  and 
crowded  members  of  the  community  were  con- 
tinually falling. 

Keeping  to  the  main  course  of  the  Agua 
Caliente  River  and  passing  many  blind  bayous, 
we  came  at  last  to  San  Lorenzo,  a dozen  adobe 
houses,  which  form  all  the  settlement  there  is  at 
what  has  been  the  road’s  end  from  the  capital 
for  three  hundred  years.  We  landed  in  the  pres- 
ence of  four  or  five  half-castes,  and  the  boatmen 
went  in  search  of  Cerrato  y Cia,  to  whom  Mr. 
Mott  had  wired  for  mules.  Senor  Cerrato,  wrho 
was  waked  from  his  siesta , discouraged  the  idea 
of  setting  out  that  day.  He  pointed  toward  the 
mountains,  where  the  broad,  gray  streaks  told 
of  heavy  downpours. 

“It  always  rains  in  the  early  evening,”  he  said, 
“and  you  will  ride  into  the  thick  of  it.  You  will 
get  very  wet,  and  it  is  too  bad  to  get  very  wet. 
Start  at  dawn  and  make  Tegucigalpa  on  the  sec- 
ond night.” 

But  my  plan  had  been  to  arrive  in  Tegucigalpa 
in  the  early  afternoon. 

“Does  it  rain  in  the  evening  up  in  the  high- 
lands, too?”  I asked. 

“Yes,  senor.” 


120 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


“Then  I am  bound  to  get  drenched  anyway, 
one  time  or  another.” 

“Yes,  but  not  to-day,”  he  answered,  with  true 
manana  philosophy.  “Not  till  to-morrow  night 
and  day  after  to-morrow  night.  You  had  better 
stay  at  the  hotel  and  we  will  call  you  at  four.” 

The  hotel,  consisting  of  a two-roomed  adobe 
house,  promised  dreary  hours.  The  mules,  a dark 
gray  and  a light  gray,  were  saddled,  and  Senor 
Cerrato,  regarding  them  and  my  avoirdupois  with 
a weighing  glance,  assigned  me  to  the  dark  gray 
and  the  light  gray  to  the  mozo,  a slight  creole  boy 
of  about  nineteen.  All  my  baggage,  a change  of 
underclothes  and  some  toilet  articles  inside  a 
rubber  blanket  was  aboard  aft,  as  the  sailor  would 
say,  with  a poncho  forward. 

Our  course  till  long  after  dusk  was  over  a per- 
fectly level  country,  passing  an  occasional  tiled 
hut  of  one  or  two  rooms,  with  pigs,  dogs  and 
naked  children  about  the  door.  Many  varieties 
of  shrubs  were  scattered  over  the  pasture  land. 
Under  the  quaint  calabash  trees,  which  flower 
from  the  limb,  lay  the  hardshell  fruit  which  the 
natives  use  for  drinking-cups  and  dippers.  Those 
fascinatingly  homely  lizards,  the  iguanas,  popped 
out  of  their  holes  to  stare  as  their  throats  flut- 
tered. The  natives  find  them  better  eating  than 
chickens,  and  the  discovery  of  the  nutritious 
steaks  on  their  plump  sides  was  a boon  in  the  old 
days  to  many  a famished  party  of  Spanish  coil- 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


121 


quistadores.  They  make  a good  target  with  a 
revolver  from  muleback,  but  it  is  better  sport  to 
leave  them  undisturbed  in  the  truculence  of  heads 
raised  in  defiant  inquiry. 

There  were  many  herds  of  cattle,  mostly  dun 
color,  well  horned,  of  the  Texan  steer  type.  They 
sought  the  center  of  the  road  as  night  fell,  proba- 
bly because  it  was  the  driest  place  and  freest  from 
insect  pests,  and  lay  calmly  chewing  their  cuds. 
It  did  not  please  them  to  move  usually,  and  when 
the  mules,  turning  stubborn,  refused  to  pass 
around  them,  they  rose  with  something  of  the 
resentment  of  Senor  Cerrato  from  his  siesta.  The 
bulls  were  about  as  fierce  as  the  iguanas. 

After  dark  we  struck  the  upgrade  and  heavier 
timber  and  saw  the  sheen  of  a river  and  heard  its 
flood  roaring  in  the  plenitude  of  the  rainy  sea- 
son. Though  the  clouds  had  threatened  and 
deluges  had  fallen  to  the  right  and  left  of  us, 
none  had  crossed  our  path.  So  Senor  Cerrata  as 
a weather  prophet  had  been,  at  least  technically, 
in  error.  It  was  only  9:30,  but  the  town  of 
Pespire  was  perfectly  dark.  We  passed  the  shad- 
owy walls  of  houses,  with  a church  tower  ahead, 
and  scrambling  up  an  incline  of  cobbles  the  mozo 
stopped,  beat  on  a door,  and  cried  out  in  a grand 
and  important  voice : 

“Senor,  el  hotel!  Por  la  noche,  senor ?” 

There  was  a sound  of  sliding  bolts,  and  a grav- 
bearded  little  man  appeared,  candle  in  hand. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


122 

Using  mister  instead  of  senor,  he  inquired  if  I 
were  ‘Mister’  Nordman.  My  answer  seemed  un- 
satisfactory. Evidently  he  could  not  see  how  any 
one  but  Mister  Nordman,  who  had  wired  ahead, 
could  come  to  his  hotel  unannounced  at  that  hour 
of  the  night.  The  absence  of  any  telegraphic 
word  on  my  part  was  most  singular  in  a Gringo. 
He  repeated  his  question;  the  mozo  joined  me, 
making  a chorus  of  denial. 

Mister  Nordman  had  been  expected;  another 
man  had  turned  up.  It  was  all  most  perplexing. 
But  mine  host  after  scanning  my  face  must  have 
found  it  fairly  free  from  guile,  for  he  led  me  into 
a big  room,  which  seemed  the  only  one  in  the 
building  outside  the  kitchen.  An  old  mahogany 
table  in  the  center  might  have  come  from  Spain 
a century  ago.  He  put  up  a cot,  laid  a sheet  on 
it,  still  reserving  the  one  bed  for  Mister  Nord- 
man. 

In  the  morning  at  four,  as  I ate  my  breakfast 
by  candlelight,  he  presented  his  bill  to  Senor 
Federico  Parmer,  scrupulously  exact  in  every 
detail  and  singularly  moderate,  in  a copperplate 
handwriting  worthy  of  an  old  - priestly  manu- 
script. Would  I do  him  the  honor  to  judge  of  its 
correctness?  He  was  a page  out  of  old  Spain 
in  a land  little  changed  from  Spanish  days;  and 
it  was  with  a real  sense  of  pride  that  I found  on 
my  return  an  atmosphere  of  warm  welcome  ex- 


ON  TIIE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


123 


tended  to  one  who  might  now  claim  to  be  a vet- 
eran of  the  Tegucigalpa  trail. 

We  left  the  town  enveloped  in  darkness  as  we 
had  entered  it.  Dawn  revealed  a graded  road 
under  the  mules’  feet,  following  the  course  of  the 
Nacaome  River,  whose  roar  we  had  heard  the 
night  before,  in  the  full  rush  of  its  busy  season 
of  transferring  acres  of  real  estate  and  sections 
of  forest  from  the  highlands  to  the  savannas. 
This  road  is  the  pride  of  Honduras  and  the  title 
to  fame  of  Sierra,  the  most  progressive  President 
of  modern  times,  whose  vanity  expressed  itself 
in  practical  public  work.  An  American  who  was 
visiting  the  country  at  that  time  told  him  of  the 
good  roads  movement  at  home,  and  Sierra,  in 
the  provincial  satisfaction  of  his  mountain  capital, 
spoke  of  the  widening  circles  from  the  splash  of 
a stone  in  the  water.  He  was  glad  to  see  that  the 
good  example  he  had  set  was  spreading. 

Early  in  the  day  my  mozo  met  a fellow-em- 
ployee, also  in  charge  of  mules  belonging  to 
Senor  Cerrato.  He  changed  my  saddle  for  what 
he  thought  was  a better  one.  I forgot  that,  in 
order  to  prevent  their  chafing  my  legs,  I had  put 
some  of  the  packets  of  Honduras  silver  in  the 
old-fashioned  pistol  holders  of  the  first  saddle 
and  also  a pair  of  gloves.  Thus  the  absent-minded 
man’s  treasure — about  eight  dollars  in  gold — 
went  on  toward  San  Lorenzo  before  the  mistake 


124. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


was  discovered  and  a wire  was  sent.  The  gloves 
caught  me  at  Tegucigalpa,  but  not  the  silver. 

We  passed  trains  of  bullock  carts  loaded  with 
everything,  from  the  track  for  a short  railway 
for  the  Rosario  Mine  to  drygoods  boxes  full  of 
ladies’  hats.  All  that  the  capital  and  the  towns 
of  the  interior  consume  in  the  way  of  foreign 
products — indeed,  all  manufactured  goods,  for 
none  are  made  in  Honduras — must  travel  as  they 
traveled  in  the  time  of  Cortez  and  Morazan,  pay- 
ing the  heavy  freight  toll  of  the  trail.  Pack  mules 
carry  the  mails  and  express. 

An  enterprising  merchant  of  Tegucigalpa  re- 
cently brought  an  automobile  from  Europe  at 
heavy  cost.  After  a few  trips  it  was  stored  in- 
definitely. The  road’s  rapid  deterioration  has 
already  increased  the  cost  of  hauling.  Culverts 
have  been  washed  away;  sections  have  fallen  from 
the  mountain-side.  At  the  time  of  my  trip  a cart 
could  carry  only  about  half  the  load  it  could  ten 
years  ago.  There  are  no  funds  in  the  Honduran 
treasury  for  upkeep,  and  no  prospect  of  any  till 
the  present  regime  of  revolutions  shall  pass. 
Thus  the  lone  public  improvement,  outside  of  that 
fifty-seven  miles  of  railway,  will  soon  be  only  a 
series  of  disconnected  remnants  of  its  former  self. 

From  dawn  to  the  rain  storm,  yes,  and  through 
the  rain  storm,  that  ride  was  a revelation  of  gran- 
deur. You  forgot  the  diet  of  eggs  three  times  a 
day,  of  eggs  fried  and  shirred,  of  black  beans, 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


125 


and  of  the  tortillas  rasping  to  mucous  membranes 
but  most  sustaining,  even  toothsome,  when  your 
molars  do  not  crunch  on  particles  of  sand  and 
other  foreign  substances  less  reassuring  in  their 
nature.  There  were  occasional  thatched  huts, 
with  plantain  trees  near  by  and  patches  of  corn 
springing  up  luxuriantly  without  cultivation 
after  the  ground  is  cleared. 

Except  for  these  and  the  signs  of  slow-pacing 
life  of  the  bullock  teams — urged  on  by  the  mozos’ 
steel-pointed  sticks — which  appeared  at  turns  of 
the  road,  the  land  was  virgin.  It  was  easy  to 
imagine  that  you  were  quite  alone,  a discoverer. 
Afar  on  the  higher  hills,  with  the  gradual  ascent, 
you  saw  tawny  tufts  which  suggested  the  Adiron- 
dacks  and  later  resolved  themselves  into  the 
plumes  of  tall  pitch  pines.  Orchids  grew  in  the 
crotches  of  their  limbs,  and  underneath  orange, 
banana,  saber-tooth  palms,  and  wild  sumach  en- 
joyed the  felicity  of  temperate  and  tropical  zone 
companionship. 

The  air  was  sweet  with  the  odor  of  the  needles, 
electric  with  ozone — and  all  this  in  what  they  call 
a desert  country!  If  the  people  who  landed  on 
the  “stern  and  rockbound  coast”  had  cast  their 
lot  here,  what  would  Honduras  be  like  now,  one 
wondered,  or  the  people  who  carry  their  vines 
up  the  rocky  walls  of  the  Rhine  or  their  paddy 
dykes  up  the  summits  of  Japan?  Every  turn 
brought  a fresh  vista  of  timbered  declivities.  A 


126 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


waterfall  was  a foamy,  silver  streak  on  a dis- 
tant mountain-side.  Another  singing  at  the  el- 
bow shot  under  a culvert  beneath  our  feet  and 
went  leaping  past,  lost  in  the  green  of  a valley. 

At  La  Venta,  the  halfway  place  when  you 
make  the  journey  in  two  days,  where  we  lunched, 
the  mozo , swinging  in  a hammock,  his  bare  feet 
hardly  escaping  my  nose,  reversed  our  parts  by 
bidding  me  hurry,  and  warned  me  that  it  was 
sure  to  rain.  This  time  the  storms  did  not  dodge 
around  us.  A broad  swath  of  dark  gray  marched 
straight  for  our  heads  and  descended  in  force ; and 
let  me  say  that  those  thin  rubber  ponchos  which 
fold  in  a large  official  envelope  and  are  given 
water-basin  tests  by  the  salesman  are  not  meant 
for  Honduras  rains.  Each  drop  seems  to  have 
the  proboscis  of  a Jersey  mosquito.  It  required 
a helmsman  trained  in  campaigns  to  hold  the  back 
sheet  over  the  native  hemp  saddle-bags,  in  which 
rested  precious  dry  socks  and  more  precious  films. 
It  was  like  riding  through  a shower  bath,  with  the 
stream  of  water  running  off  your  hat  and  off  the 
mule’s  nose,  while  in  the  rear  the  mozo , his  cotton 
shirt  glued  to  his  skin,  was  a huddled  figure  with 
the  graven  face  of  a gargoyle  under  a water- 
spout. 

Over  the  hill  through  the  mist  appeared  a pic- 
ture out  of  Aragon,  in  its  conventional  tiles.  The 
mozo  called  out  “Sabana  Grande!”  and  took  the 
lead  through  the  flooded  streets,  and  I dismount- 


Among  the  mountains  of  Honduras  along  the  Sierra  Road 


3$ 


r 


ON  THE  HONDURAS  ROAD 


127 


ed  at  an  open  door,  with  a leap  through  the  sheet 
of  water  from  the  eaves,  into  the  presence  of 
an  elderly  man  leaning  on  a cane,  with  the  light 
of  such  a genuine  welcome  on  his  face  as  you 
would  not  get  from  any  other  innkeeper  in  the 
world. 

“Quite  a shower!”  he  said  with  an  American 
accent,  introducing  himself.  “My  name’s  Smith.” 

“Is  it  Don  Alberto  Smith?”  I inquired. 

“Yes,  siree!” 

There  is  no  better-known  name  in  all  Hon- 
duras. 


CHAPTER  TWELVE 


MINE  HOST,  DON  ALBERTO 

T T was  thirty-two  years  since  Don  Alberto  had 
been  in  the  States.  Having  joined  the  gold 
rush  in  ’52,  he  "was  practically  a Forty-niner. 
From  California  the  call  of  travel  had  brought 
him  to  Honduras. 

“I’d  like  to  see  New  York  and  the  high  build- 
ings,” he  said;  “but  I’d  like  to  see  San  Francisco 
most  of  all.  How  it  must  have  changed!  It 
has  been  shaken  down  and  built  again — think  of 
that!  They  say  times  are  getting  good  in  the 
States.  They’re  pretty  bad  here.  They  will  be 
till  we  stop  revolutions,  and  there  is  not  much 
chance  of  that.  Revolutions  are  a kind  of  habit 
in  Honduras.  You  don’t  happen  to  have  brought 
an  illustrated  paper?  I like  the  pictures  best. 
That’s  the  way  I see  how  things  look  at  home.” 
Don  Alberto’s  first  try  for  fortune  in  Central 
America  was  at  coffee  planting.  He  brought  in 
plows,  to  the  wonder  of  the  natives,  whose  process 
of  cultivation  consists  of  making  a hole  in  the 
ground  with  a stick,  dropping  in  a seed,  and  leav- 
ing the  rains  and  rich  soil  to  finish  the  work.  But 

128 


MINE  HOST,  DON  ALBERTO 


129 


Honduras  is  not  a coffee  country;  at  least,  not 
in  the  part  where  lie  made  his  experiment.  By 
the  time  he  was  convinced  of  his  failure  he  had 
fallen  under  the  spell  of  the  highland  air,  taken 
a Spanish  wife  and  settled  down. 

Then  he  turned  prospector  and  located  a prom- 
ising claim;  but  sold  his  interest  in  that  because 
he  thought  that  he  had  found  a better  one,  which, 
unfortunately,  failed  to  “pan  out.”  The  first  is 
now  the  great  Rosario  Mine,  with  its  treasure  of 
millions,  and  the  honor  of  its  discovery  is  still  a 
thing  to  set  him  apart  as  a romantic  character. 

At  seventy-five  his  hair  is  far  from  white,  and 
if  it  were  not  for  the  rheumatism,  which  afflicts 
him  in  the  rainy  season,  he  said  that  he  would  have 
no  cause  to  complain. 

“It  is  a splendid  climate — a splendid  climate!” 
he  insisted.  “Well,  you  must  be  hungry.  How 
will  you  have  your  eggs?  I don’t  suppose  you 
have  heard  that  question  before  in  Central 
America!” 

Eggs  three  times  a day,  always  fried  or  shirred! 
(Boiled  is  out  of  the  question  in  any  inn  unused 
to  foreign  ways.)  But  at  Don  Alberto’s  board 
they  were  only  the  incident  to  a generous  and 
varied  meal,  with  many  apologies  on  his  part 
about  the  expense  and  difficulty  of  bringing  in 
imported  supplies  in  the  rainy  season. 

After  dinner  there  appeared  in  the  doorwTay  a 
man  with  a blond  mustache,  a square  chin,  a 


130 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


frank,  merry  eye,  holding  the  bowl  of  a briar 
pipe  in  his  hand  as  he  paused,  with  a leisurely 
effect,  nodded  and  exclaimed:  “Howdy  do?” 

with  a drawl. 

“Howdy  do?  Are  you  an  American?”  I asked. 

“Yes,  I travel  in  that  class,”  was  the  dry  an- 
swer. 

“You’re  not  Mr.  Jeffs?” 

Some  one  had  told  me  that  any  American  who 
spent  the  night  at  Don  Alberto’s  might  expect 
Jeffs  to  drop  in  casually,  very  casually,  in  the 
course  of  the  evening. 

“Yes,  you’ve  got  my  name,  all  right,”  he  said. 

“And  are  you  the  Mr.  Jeffs,  of  Davis’  ‘Three 
Gringos?’  ” 

“Yes.  How  did  you  find  that  out?” 

He  was  immensely  pleased.  The  trip  of  Davis, 
Griscom  and  Somerset  remains  a brilliant 
memory  in  Honduras,  which  goes  a long  time 
between  visits  from  literary  travelers.  Jeffs,  their 
companion  over  the  trails,  is  a type  of  frontiers- 
man and  prospector  whose  character  no  surround- 
ings can  change.  I asked  him  if  conditions  in 
Honduras  were  better  than  in  the  days  of  the 
three.  He  said:  “Worse.”  I asked  Don  Al- 

berto if  they  were  better  than  thirty-two  years 
ago.  He  said:  “Worse.” 

We  chatted  together  before  I turned  in  next 
door  in  a damp  room,  on  a damp  bed,  with  damp 
clothes.  Of  course,  the  floor  was  flush  with  the 


MINE  HOST,  DON  ALBERTO 


131 


pavement.  Second  stories  are  not  the  custom  in 
Central  America,  and  in  the  rainy  season  in- 
teriors everywhere  have  something  of  the  atmos- 
phere of  a cellar,  in  contrast  to  the  Philippines. 
There  you  sleep  on  the  second  floor  in  towns,  and 
even  the  poorest  natives  have  their  houses  built 
on  stilts. 

The  mules  were  at  the  door  at  dawn,  little  the 
worse  for  wear  after  thirty-eight  miles  of 
rough  traveling  the  previous  day.  They  had  not 
known  the  touch  of  curry-comb  or  brush.  The 
Honduran  mule  never  does  know  such  luxury. 
He  is  the  pride  of  the  land  in  efficiency,  and  puts 
to  shame  all  the  records  of  European  cavalry 
tests  for  endurance.  A trotter,  or  “fancy  mule,” 
will  do  the  hundred  miles  from  San  Lorenzo  to 
Tegucigalpa  between  four  a.m.  and  ten  p.m. 

Mine,  the  ordinary  “plug”  for  hire,  was  good 
for  only  about  fifty  miles  a day.  Plod,  plod,  he 
kept  up  his  pace,  four  or  five  miles  an  hour,  like 
some  oppressed  spirit  on  a treadmill.  No  Cen- 
tral American  ever  thinks  of  dismounting  for  a 
declivity  or  a path  of  jagged  rocks.  When  I set 
the  example  it  was  with  difficulty  that  I could 
lead  my  mozo  to  follow  it.  Afterward  I heard 
him  saying  to  another  mozo: 

“The  Gringo  was  so  sore  that  he  got  off  when 
he  came  to  a bad  place.” 

“They  are  mad,  the  Gringos.  Did  he  swear 
when  he  did  it?” 


132 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


“No.” 

“Then  he  was  not  sore.  He  was  afraid  he 
would  fall.” 

“But  they  are  very  proud,  these  Gringos.  He 
made  me  get  off,  too.” 

Sometimes  you  were  in  doubt  whether  the  mule 
minded  if  there  were  a man  on  his  back  or  not. 
He  was  a machine,  a nerveless  freight  engine  of 
gristle  and  bones,  unconscious  of  extra  weight. 

We  rounded  hill  after  hill  that  morning  and 
rode  on  without  waiting  for  luncheon,  deter- 
mined to  reach  Tegucigalpa  early.  The  kilometer 
posts  which  Sierra  set  along  his  road  must  have 
been  started  from  either  terminus,  with  a mis- 
calculation that  led  to  a hiatus  when  they  met. 
Either  that  ten  kilometer  post  kept  repeating  it- 
self with  discouraging  monotony  or  the  mozo, 
in  making  a cross  cut,  had  led  me  back  to  a point 
behind  the  spot  from  which  he  had  started. 

At  last  the  ascent  of  a rise  flung  out  the  pic- 
ture of  a valley  plotted  with  an  area  of  tiled 
roofs.  It  was  after  midday  and  we  were  hungry 
and  thirsty,  having  ridden  since  dawn  on  a pot 
of  coffee  and  some  bread.  At  a hut  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town  we  halted  by  a tree  sprinkled 
with  yellow  globes.  What  sweet,  succulent 
oranges  they  were! 

Then  we  rode  on  into  that  capital,  so  quiet  and 
old  in  aspect,  across  the  bridge  into  the  plaza  and 
to  the  hotel,  which  was  one  to  make  the  stoutest 


Tegucigalpa,  the  capital  of  Honduras,  seen  from  the  hills 


MINE  HOST,  DON  ALBERTO 


133 


heart  tremble.  Was  there  any  food?  I inquired. 
Some  bread  and  cheese  were  forthcoming  after 
much  intrigue.  Considering  the  accommodation, 
it  was  not  surprising  to  hear  that  not  a single 
American  commercial  traveler,  except  a drum- 
mer for  a whisky  firm,  had  been  in  Tegucigalpa 
for  two  years. 

Relief  appeared  instantly,  after  a call  on  Con- 
sul Alger,  who  has  been  in  the  country  as  long 
as  Don  Alberto  and  knows  every  trail  and  every 
in  and  out  of  the  revolutionist  plotting.  Gibson, 
the  charge  d’affaires,  had  ridden  out  to  meet  me, 
and  by  some  mischance  we  had  missed  each  other. 
Into  the  largest  house  in  town,  with  its  spacious, 
high-ceilinged  rooms,  forthwith,  went  visitor  and 
baggage. 

It  was  hospitality,  indeed,  to  a disreputable  be- 
ing in  soiled  khaki,  with  all  his  belongings  in  the 
diminutive  native  saddle-bags,  and  hospitality  not 
ending  with  shelter  and  a shower  bath.  A Dr. 
Brown,  who  was  away  among  the  hills,  had  left 
behind  a wardrobe,  with  word  that  any  or  all  of 
it  was  at  the  command  of  anybody  who  arrived  in 
the  straits  in  which  he  had  once  found  himself.  In 
one  of  his  suits,  which  fitted  perfectly,  restored  to 
the  habit  of  civilization,  it  was  quite  in  order  to 
call  on  the  President  of  the  republic. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY 

F N the  hall  of  Congress  at  Tegucigalpa  are  the 
portraits  of  all  the  Presidents  of  Honduras. 
On  an  average  they  served  two  and  a half  years 
out  of  a term  of  four  years.  Only  two,  Sierra 
and  Policarpo  Bonilla,  vacated  office  without  a 
resort  to  force  as  a means  to  hold  their  places. 

The  brief  space  of  power  of  the  others  is  signifi- 
cant of  the  turbulent  history  of  a disheartened 
land  which  in  the  last  fifteen  years  has  had  six 
revolutions,  not  to  mention  numerous  abortive 
rebellions  carrying  devastation  in  their  paths. 
The  last  revolution  was  in  1907.  Manuel  Bonilla, 
then  President,  had  held  office  for  four  years. 
He  forcibly  passed  a law  increasing  his  own  term 
to  six  years.  Duty  then  called  Zelaya,  President 
of  Nicaragua,  to  the  rescue  of  constitutional 
rights. 

Bonilla  had  been  neither  a satellite  of  Zelaya 
nor  of  Cabrera,  of  Guatemala;  he  was  “all  for 
himself,”  as  they  say  in  Tegucigalpa.  It  suited 
Zelaya’s  international  ambitions  to  have  a crea- 
ture of  his  own  for  President  of  Honduras.  So, 

134 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY  135 


with  no  other  reason  for  interfering  in  her  affairs, 
he  made  war  on  his  neighbor.  Bonilla  called  Sal- 
vador, Cabrera’s  vassal,  to  his  assistance,  and  a 
Salvadorian  army  came,  without  taking  the  pains 
to  make  a declaration  of  war. 

At  the  decisive  battle  of  Namazique  many  of 
the  Honduran  troops,  who  were  anti-Manuelistas, 
deserted  to  the  enemy’s  side,  and  the  clannish 
Salvadorians,  who  never  take  any  interest  except 
wrhen  fighting  in  defense  of  their  own  country, 
lent  no  effective  support  to  their  allies.  One 
would  have  a parallel  if  in  a war  between  France 
and  Germany  the  leader  of  a French  corps  began 
firing  on  their  own  blood,  and  the  Belgians,  who 
had  been  sent  out  in  secret  to  assist  the  French, 
concluded  to  play  the  spectator  instead  of  the 
combatant. 

Having  taken  Tegucigalpa  and  looted  the 
country  generally,  with  the  help  of  Hondurans — 
such  is  Central  American  patriotism — Zelaya 
proposed  to  make  Sierra  President.  Cabrera 
insisted  on  Arias,  who,  by  the  way,  is  no  longer  a 
Cabrera  man  because  Cabrera  recently  had  him 
in  jail.  A compromise  was  effected  on  Davila, 
who,  nevertheless,  is  supposed  to  be  under  the 
thumb  of  Zelaya.  This  affair  led  to  Mr.  Root’s 
intervention  and  to  the  Central  American  confer- 
ence in  Washington  and  the  establishment  of  the 
International  Court  at  Cartago,  to  which  the 
Central  American  republics  by  their  pledged 


1S6 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


word  were  to  submit  all  their  differences.  Inside 
of  six  months  Cabrera’s  system  of  spies  was  quite 
unable  to  see  a revolution  being  organized  for 
the  invasion  of  Honduras  and  the  overthrow  of 
Davila.  Diplomatic  interference  from  Wash- 
ington again  had  its  effect. 

Honduras  is  bankrupt,  stagnant,  devastated. 
There  seems  no  flesh  left  on  her  bones  to  call  her 
ambitious  neighbors  to  battle.  Her  territory  is 
one  of  the  most  backward  portions  of  the  earth, 
loaded  with  a debt  of  $100,000,000  with  accrued  * 
interest,  which  was  borrowed  largely  to  build  that 
fifty-seven  miles  of  railroad*  Politicians  and 
London  money-lenders  began  the  spoliation,  to 
which  there  has  been  no  end.  All  incitement  to 
individual  enterprise  is  pretty  well  dead.  A 
resident  estimated  that  the  average  amount  spent 
by  the  peasantry  for  clothes  and  imported  luxu- 
ries was  $1.50  apiece  annually. 

“Senor,”  said  an  old  Honduran,  “why  should 
our  people  accumulate  more  than  one  shirt 
apiece,  when  a revolution  may  come  along  at  any 
hour  and  rob  them  of  everything  not  on  their 
backs?” 

Why,  indeed? 

The  official  world  made  no  concealment  of  the 
situation.  Senor  Fiallos,  secretary  of  foreign  af- 
fairs, a graduate  of  Columbia  University,  spoke 
hopelessly  of  his  country  and  its  future  with  a 
genuineness  of  feeling  that  was  touching.  As  an 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY  137 


instance  of  her  unprogressiveness  he  recalled  how 
eighty-eight  years  ago  the  messenger  bearing  the 
news  of  the  declaration  of  independence  from 
Spain  had  come  from  Guatemala  City  in  fourteen 
days,  while  an  important  official  letter  sent 
eighteen  days  before,  according  to  telegraphic 
notification,  had  not  yet  arrived.  The  trails  be- 
tween the  different  republics  maintained  by  the 
Spanish  captains-general  were  in  far  better  con- 
dition than  those  of  to-day. 

Miguel  R.  Davila,  a man  well  on  toward  seven- 
ty, is  said  to  be  the  one  clean-handed  President 
in  money  matters  in  Central  America.  He  is 
also  the  unhappiest;  a living  example  of  the  fault 
of  being  out  of  style  in  a region  where  dishonesty 
is  a custom  rather  than  a policy.  Even  were  he 
venal  he  could  make  little  profit.  All  the  spoil 
was  exhausted  before  his  time. 

“I  go  to  bed  every  night  without  knowing  what 
may  happen  in  the  morning,”  he  said.  “I  have 
no  one  whom  I can  trust.  I have  to  do  all  for 
myself.  Ail  I ask  is  to  escape  assassination  and 
finish  my  term  of  office  honorably.  What  hope 
of  peace  or  development  has  Honduras,  lying 
between  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua?  None,  ex- 
cept by  interference  from  the  United  States.  It 
is  for  you  to  see  that  the  Central  American  Court 
at  Cartago  is  not  the  plaything  of  Nicaraguan 
and  Guatemalan  politicians. 

“Will  you  not  drive  out  their  spies?  Will  you 


138 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


not  use  your  strong  arm  to  give  us  peace — peace 
long  enough  to  learn  that  continual  revolution  is 
not  the  natural  order  of  a nation’s  existence? 
There  is  no  act  of  yours  guaranteeing  good  gov- 
ernment which  I w'ould  not  welcome.  How  can 
we  care  for  ourselves,  how  can  we  rule  ourselves 
under  such  conditions?  And  you  took  away 
our  principal  source  of  income  when  you  made 
Cuba  so  prosperous  that  she  raises  her  own  cattle 
and  imports  no  more  of  ours.” 

With  his  army  likely  to  be  seduced  at  any  mo- 
ment by  the  agents  of  one  neighboring  dictator 
or  another,  he  planned  to  have  at  least  a hundred 
men  who  would  be  loyal  and  know  how  to  fight 
according  to  foreign  ideas.  To  this  end,  he 
called  in  a German-trained  Chilean  colonel  to 
organize  a corps  of  cadets.  After  looking  at  the 
miserable,  shoeless,  slouchy,  dirty  soldiers  which 
afflict  the  sight  at  every  port  and  in  front  of  every 
government  office  from  the  Mexican  to  the  Costa 
Rican  border,  one  came  to  Honduras  to  learn 
what  opportunity  and  attention  will  do  for  the 
slumbrous  blood  of  the  Maya  civilization. 

In  the  courtyard  of  the  barracks  I saw  an  ex- 
hibition almost  as  exotic  in  Central  America  as 
men-of-Avar’s  men  in  Bolivia.  Colonel  Orizun, 
a fashion  plate  of  the  Prussian  militarism  which 
spreads  its  rigid  character  around  the  world,  had 
been  holding  a veritable  target  practice  and  had 
called  on  the  community,  from  consuls  to  Presi- 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY  139 

dent,  to  offer  trophies.  Set  among  the  prizes 
and  under  the  portrait  of  Morazan,  the  Washing- 
ton of  Honduras,  was  the  bull’s-eye  sheet,  cut 
with  the  bullets  of  the  best  shots — proof  that  good 
shooting  is  the  prerogative  of  no  particular  race. 

Near  by,  a sentry,  in  frayed  blue  jeans  of  the 
Central  American  type,  looked  on  as  the  cadets, 
“bracing”  after  each  feat,  went  through  all  the 
exercises  which,  with  good  food,  had  transformed 
them  in  a few  months  from  languid,  slouching 
Hondurans  to  athletic,  well-set-up  youths.  The 
spirit  of  corps  was  in  their  faces  and  their  bear- 
ing. 

Before  the  distribution  of  the  prizes  the  colonel 
read  them  a speech,  a true  soldier’s  speech.  It 
taught  them  that  their  duty  was  to  the  nation 
and  the  flag  and  its  head  and  not  to  any  political 
leader  or  individual.  Strange  sentiment  that  in 
Central  America!  Then  they  took  the  oath  to 
the  colors,  a ceremony  of  impressive  dignity 
under  the  circumstances.  All  honor  to  Colonel 
Orizun,  of  Chile,  who  is  at  work  in  Central 
America,  if  our  officers,  missionaries  and  teachers 
are  not!  He  is  a pioneer  who  has  demonstrated 
that  the  lot  of  half-breeds  in  those  “rotten,  fever- 
plagued  countries”  have  possibilities.  Over  the 
trails  from  all  parts  of  Honduras  boys  were  com- 
ing on  foot,  their  baggage  in  a handkerchief, 
hoping  that  they,  too,  might  be  admitted  to  that 


140 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


exclusive  corps,  where  you  are  regularly  fed  and 
— wonder  of  wonders! — regularly  paid. 

The  regular  pay,  so  contrary  to  all  Central 
American  precedent,  was  a trial  to  the  old  Presi- 
dent, in  face  of  the  protests  of  hungry  politicians, 
an  empty  treasury,  and  all  government  bills  over- 
due and  government  wrages  many  months  in  ar- 
rears. But  somehow’  he  was  managing  to  find 
the  money  for  this  little  phalanx,  which  wras  the 
apple  of  his  eye;  and  he  is  short-tempered  and 
Central  American  by  training,  after  all,  which 
requires  a mental  allowance  for  his  treatment  of 
a woman  who  had  repeatedly  tried,  in  the  early 
days  of  their  organization,  to  make  the  cadets 
desert. 

He  had  her  driven  through  the  streets  with  a 
bar  of  iron  tied  to  her  legs.  An  American  pro- 
tested that  this  w'as  no  way  for  a reform  admin- 
istration to  start  its  career.  In  fact,  it  was  bar- 
barism of  the  worst  order. 

“I  know  it,”  the  old  man  returned,  “and  I did 
it.  Don’t  blame  anybody  else.  I know  it  is 
wrong,  but  this  is  Honduras.  It  was  the  only 
way  to  make  her  understand.” 

In  Honduras,  as  elsewhere  in  Central  America, 
the  law  of  force  is  the  moral  law.  When  a group 
of  leading  citizens  meet  they  reckon  up  how  many 
times  each  has  been  in  jail  and  what  it  cost  each 
one  to  get  free.  Probably  there  are  not  half  a 
dozen  men  of  any  importance  who  have  not  been 


Honduran  soldiers  (at  left)  guarding  eonviets 


Honduran  cadets,  after  training  by  a Chilian  officer 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY  141 


imprisoned  or  had  to  fly  the  country  at  one  time 
or  another. 

An  English  banker  was  informed  by  a former 
President  that  a voluntary  loan  of  $100,000  in 
native  currency  was  wanted  immediately.  He 
refused.  Then  came  the  word  that  although  he 
was  immune  as  a foreign  subject,  they  could  reach 
him  by  having  three  of  his  clerks  shot  before  day- 
break the  next  morning.  So  he  capitulated  for 
humanity’s  sake.  The  only  way  that  he  could 
reimburse  himself  was  to  assist  in  a revolution — 
for  which  he  did  not  have  long  to  wait — that 
would  put  in  a President  under  promise  to  meet 
the  debt. 

President  Davila’s  last  thought  at  night  and 
first  thought  in  the  morning  is  to  learn  if  there  is 
any  telegraphic  news  of  an  insurrectionist  on  the 
move  or  a rebellion  under  way.  Manuel  Bonilla, 
the  former  President,  was  in  British  Honduras 
nominally  in  the  cattle  business,  but,  as  every- 
body said,  waiting  his  chance.  Davila  can  have 
no  dances  or  entertainments  in  Tegucigalpa,  be- 
cause society,  composed  largely  of  Manuelistas, 
will  not  attend.  Policarpo  Bonilla  was  in  town 
plotting  under  Davila’s  nose,  with  the  Presi- 
dent threatening  now  and  then  to  put  him  in  jail, 
while  Policarpo  dodges  and  keeps  up  his  agita- 
tion. Need  there  be  any  further  comment  on  the 
misery  of  the  country?  Can  any  one  expect  in- 
dustry to  thrive  under  such  conditions? 


142 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


One  pleasant  note,  aside  from  the  cadets,  was 
the  fiesta  in  honor  of  national  independence  from 
Spain.  There  were  speeches  in  the  plaza;  school- 
girls brought  flowers  to  place  on  the  statue  of 
Morazan,  and  everybody  appeared  in  their  best 
raiment,  with  a few  of  the  comparatively  well-to- 
do  in  hats  which  had  come  from  France,  thanks 
to  the  indefatigable  M.  Nordman,  the  French 
drummer. 

All  American  interests  center  in  the  town  of 
San  Jacinto,  which  had  600  inhabitants  in  1889, 
and  now  has  13,000  to  14,000.  Around  the 
Rosario  Mine  has  risen  a town,  with  schools  and 
clean  streets,  practically  under  company  control. 
The  managers  do  not  mind  revolutions,  because 
labor  is  cheapened  by  the  way  the  natives  flock 
in  for  protection  from  the  recruiting  bullies,  who 
march  them  away  from  their  homes  to  misery  and 
death  by  disease. 

The  Americans  on  the  west  side  of  the  divide 
who  are  not  prospectors  may  be  counted  on  the 
fingers  of  both  hands.  There  are  many  on  the 
east  coast,  where  they  own  80  per  cent,  of 
the  banana  plantations.  In  Tegucigalpa,  the 
most  enterprising  and  active  resident  at  the  time 
of  my  visit  was  an  American,  an  eye  and  ear 
specialist,  who  had  fled  from  Chicago  because  of 
charges  for  which  he  did  not  stand  trial. 

When  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  city  hospital 
he  threw  out  all  the  patients,  consisting  of  poli- 


THE  MOST  BACKWARD  COUNTRY  143 


ticians,  who  had  their  wines  charged  as  medicines, 
and  admitted  sick  people  instead.  Already  en- 
joying the  largest  practice  in  Honduras,  he  was 
building  a sanitarium  in  the  form  of  a fortress 
on  the  hills  above  the  town,  which  would  be  of 
sendee  to  any  revolutionary  army.  He  had  had 
many  differences  with  Salamanca,  the  chief  of 
police,  who  was  long  in  jail  on  eighty  charges  of 
arson,  murder  and  rape,  which  may  or  may  not 
have  had  any  foundation  in  fact,  his  enemies 
being  in  office  at  the  time. 

Extradition  has  stopped  the  coming  of  de- 
faulters with  ready  money  to  spend,  closing  the 
last  resort  to  the  fleeing  criminal.  The  revenue  of 
$100,000  a year  from  the  New  Orleans  lottery, 
which  migrated  to  Honduras,  no  longer  patches 
the  holes  in  the  national  budget.  But  let  the 
country  have  peace,  let  capital  come  in  to  develop 
its  resources,  and  Honduras  would  soon  be  a 
thriving  State. 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN 


INTO  NICARAGUA 

rp  HE  charge  d’affaires  and  Consul  Alger  bade 
A their  guest  good-by  at  the  legation  door  at 
daybreak.  They  agreed  with  me  that  it  was  a 
pity  I had  to  return  by  the  route  I had  come 
rather  than  by  the  trail  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  for 
then  I would  have  crossed  Honduras  from  sea  to 
sea.  One  with  a limited  amount  of  time  at  his 
disposal  had  to  bear  in  mind  the  infrequent 
steamer  connections. 

It  was  quite  likely  that  I should  see  the  charge 
and  the  consul  in  the  home  country  one  day;  but 
when  Don  Alberto  Smith,  of  Sabana  Grande, 
said:  “I  don’t  suppose  you  will  be  passing  this 
way  again  soon,”  the  parting  had  a touch  of 
pathos.  My  last  glimpse  as  we  turned  the  street 
corner  showed  him  leaning  on  his  cane  in  the 
doorway  of  his  inn  and  smiling. 

That  long  ride  back  over  the  Sierra  road  has 
another  indelible  recollection.  When  we  were  on 
the  western  side  and  near  the  top  of  the  divide,  at 
a point  which  we  had  passed  in  the  dark  on  the 
inward  journey,  we  left  the  highway  and,  brush- 

144 


INTO  NICARAGUA 


145 


ing  aside  a limb,  saw  the  island-studded  Gulf  of 
Fonseca  molten  under  the  sun ; and  far  away  in  a 
dreamy  haze  lay  the  Pacific. 

Blazing  daybreak  and  the  heat  on  awakening 
at  Pespire  on  the  second  morning  told  their  own 
story.  We  were  in  the  lowlands.  After  ten  days 
in  the  highlands  the  change  was  stifling.  At  San 
Lorenzo,  where  a pulling  boat  was  to  meet  me 
promptly  in  order  that  I might  be  sure  to  catch 
the  steamer,  the  only  sign  that  it  would  be  forth- 
coming was  Senor  Cerrato’s  assurance  that  it  was 
probably  on  the  way. 

Then  I set  about  the  complicated  business  of 
sending  a telegram  of  inquiry,  which  had  the 
misfortune  of  lacking  the  legation’s  or  the  con- 
sulate’s frank  to  prove  that  I was  not  a prospect- 
ive revolutionist.  The  telegrapher  said  that  I 
must  first  buy  a form.  This  I succeeded  in  do- 
ing from  a woman  who  seemed  to  have  the  mo- 
nopoly of  this  privilege.  She  was  African,  and 
was  engaged  at  the  time  in  rending  beef  entrails. 
Next  I had  to  take  the  blank  to  be  stamped  by  the 
post-office,  and  when  I finally  turned  it  over  to 
the  telegrapher  he  sent  it  out  for  inspection  by 
the  comandante. 

By  the  time  that  it  was  actually  on  the  wire  the 
boatmen  had  arrived.  They  would  he  ready  to 
start  as  soon  as  they  had  something  to  eat.  But 
after  their  meal  they  disappeared,  and  a search 
revealed  them  under  a shed  asleep.  They  said 


146 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


that  they  were  waiting  for  the  wind  to  rise.  We 
found  that  it  had  risen,  but  in  the  wrong  quarter. 
The  Bay  of  San  Lorenzo  lost  its  picturesqueness. 
It  became  as  offensive  a sheet  of  water  to  me  as 
to  the  four  hombres  who  had  to  pull  ceaselessly 
in  the  choppy  waves.  The  pelicans  had  long 
been  abed,  and  it  began  to  rain  before  we  were 
across.  Wet  and  tired,  we  reached  Amapala  at 
last.  After  some  argument  the  sergeant  on  the 
pier  let  me  pass  without  arrest,  but  two  or  three 
sentries  leveled  their  rifles  at  me  on  the  way  to 
the  Hotel  Morazan,  which  was  in  darkness. 

If  you  would  demoralize  a small  Central 
American  port,  arouse  a landlord  at  a late  hour 
with  the  request  for  something  to  eat,  for  your 
trunk  and  to  be  awakened  at  four  a.m.,  with 
porters  to  be  on  hand  to  take  the  trunk  to  a boat, 
which  is  to  be  ready  for  a twenty-mile  cruise.  Im- 
possible! To  begin  with,  had  I permission  to 
leave  the  country?  inquired  the  thunderstruck 
host.  But  not  too  many  things  at  once,  I re- 
joined. Would  he  fetch  the  trunk  and  find  some 
bread  and  coffee — just  cold  coffee?  Running  the 
gauntlet  of  other  sentries  and  swearing  to  them 
that  I was  a friend  of  Honduras,  I found  Mr. 
Mott.  He  would  arrange  about  the  boat  and 
speak  to  the  comandante,  in  order  that  I might 
catch  the  steamer  at  La  Union,  across  the  gulf 
in  Salvador. 

The  landlord  could  find  no  cheese  and  only  one 


A fiesta  day  in  the  Honduran  capital 


Old  bridge  at  the  entrance  to  Tegucigalpa 


INTO  NICARAGUA 


147 


cold  tortilla,  but  there  was  fire  enough  left  to 
make  the  coffee  tepid.  Where  he  had  stored  the 
trunk  during  my  absence  remains  an  unsolved 
mystery.  It  was  so  rank  with  mildew  that  the 
sopping  things  on  my  back  were  preferable  to 
any  inside. 

Permission  to  leave  the  country  did  not  seem 
to  have  been  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
sergeant  on  the  pier  until  he  discovered  that  there 
were  some  charges  for  me  to  pay.  When  these 
were  liquidated  he  let  me  go.  Daybreak  came 
in  a blaze  after  we  were  well  out  in  the  gulf,  and 
it  set  the  pelicans  on  the  limbs  of  the  trees  to 
blinking  like  so  many  funny  old  men  who  had 
taken  one  toddy  too  many  the  night  before.  They 
stretched  their  wings  and  sighed,  one  imagined, 
over  the  necessities  of  a practical  world,  before 
they  began  to  circle  about  looking  for  the  foolish 
early  fish  for  breakfast. 

The  boatmen  did  not  intend  to  work  if  they 
could  avoid  it.  They  tacked  this  way  and  that, 
without  making  any  progress  toward  the  Pacific 
Mail  steamer,  which  we  could  see  at  anchor  off 
La  Union,  and  which  was  not  to  stop  at  Ama- 
pala.  (Only  every  other  steamer  in  the  schedule 
finds  it  worth  while  to  call  at  the  chief  Pacific 
port  of  Honduras.)  Encouraging  the  boatmen 
with  an  offer  of  a reward  to  give  up  trying  to 
sail  without  a breeze,  I took  the  rudder  and  they 
took  the  oars. 


148 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


When  the  stroke  saw  that  I was  heading  direct- 
ly for  the  steamer  he  became  vociferous.  We 
must  land  at  La  Union,  he  said,  before  I went 
aboard,  not  only  to  get  official  permission  to  leave 
Salvador,  which  I had  not  yet  entered,  but  be- 
cause the  Honduran  comandante  had  wired  to 
the  Salvadorian  comandante  that  one  passenger 
was  in  process  of  delivery  from  one  nation  to  an- 
other, and  the  bargain  could  not  be  completed 
until  an  official  receipt  for  my  person  had  been 
signed.  Just  then  the  whistle  of  the  steamer  blew. 
Not  another  would  pass  for  ten  days.  The 
thought  of  ten  days  at  the  Hotel  Morazan  over- 
shadowed the  danger  of  disturbing  international 
relations,  so  I bade  the  oarsmen  hasten  and  leave 
the  rest  to  the  passenger.  They  dropped  their 
oars. 

“Senor,”  said  the  stroke,  “the  comandante 
would  say  that  we  had  murdered  you  on  the  way. 
He  would  put  us  in  jail,  and  you  would  be  gone, 
and  how  could  we  prove  that  we  hadn’t  murdered 
you?  We  are  poor  boatmen.  We  haven’t  any 
money  to  pay  the  Salvadorian  comandante , and 
we  can’t  go  back  to  our  own  comandante  without 
a receipt  or  we  will  get  in  jail  just  the  same.” 

The  logic  was  irresistible  from  a Central 
American  point  of  view.  It  would  have  been 
more  appealing  to  one’s  sympathy  if  one  had  not 
expected  to  hear  the  rumble  of  anchor  chains  any 
minute.  I wrote  a note  to  the  Salvadorian  com - 


INTO  NICARAGUA 


149 


andante,  saying  that  the  boat  had  been  sent  to 
the  steamer’s  gangway  under  orders,  and  gave 
the  note  to  the  stroke.  As  neither  he  nor  any  of 
his  fellows  could  read,  he  was  not  exactly  con- 
vinced. 

However,  he  obeyed  instructions,  and  once  I 
was  aboard — the  whistle  I had  heard  was  not  the 
parting  whistle — that  fearful  crew  started  for 
shore  with  the  spirit  of  the  rowers  in  a ’varsity 
contest  to  tell  that  Salvadorian  com  andante  how 
the  Gringo  had  treated  them.  He  came  off  at 
once,  a loser  of  landing  and  embarking  fees,  and 
after  looking  me  over  said  he  could  receipt  for 
me  as  having  been  delivered  alive.  Thus  the  in- 
ternational incident  was  closed  in  a perfectly 
friendly  understanding. 

But  meanwhile  I had  formed  an  understand- 
ing of  another  sort  with  the  Chinese  steward  of 
the  dining  saloon,  who,  with  the  genius  of  his  race 
for  preparing  a meal  quickly,  soon  had  me  in 
the  presence  of  a substantial  breakfast,  not  out 
of  season  at  eleven  a.m.  for  one  who  had  had  noth- 
ing but  one  cold  tortilla  and  a tepid  cup  of  coffee 
since  noon  of  the  previous  day.  These  short 
steamer  trips  between  ports  meant  dips  into  civi- 
lization and,  incidentally,  into  real  bathtubs. 

Our  captain  was  another  of  the  old  type  of 
American  merchant  sailors.  He  had  been  in 
service  longer  than  my  preceding  Pacific  Mail 
skipper,  and,  in  keeping  with  his  rank,  his  craft 


150 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


was  newer,  being  only  twenty-five  years  old.  It 
was  paradise  to  me,  as  I explained,  and  he  re- 
marked that  though  he  had  dropped  anchor  at 
La  Union  some  thirty  times  he  had  never  been 
ashore.  He  could  see  quite  enough  from  deck. 

The  passengers  were  not  inferior  in  their  cos- 
mopolitanism to  the  other  west  coast  lists  that  I 
had  met:  Spanish,  French,  Italian,  Chilean, 

Chinese  and  American,  not  to  mention  the  many 
Central  Americans.  Some  French  mechanics 
traveling  second  class  were  serenely  happy.  They 
had  served  long  as  foremen  in  Mexican  mines. 
Two  of  them  had  once  worked  under  de  Lesseps 
on  the  Isthmian  Canal.  All  had  saved  a com- 
petency, and  they  were  homeward  bound  for  the 
last  time  to  spend  their  days  in  the  ease  of 
rentiers  in  F ranee.  How  they  talked ! How  in- 
finitely French  they  were,  despite  their  long 
exile ! 

At  table  on  my  right  was  an  American  traveler 
for  an  arms  firm,  born  to  his  fluent  Castilian  in 
Cuba.  He  had  heard  that  a rival  had  placed  an 
order  for  a dozen  rapid-fire  guns  with  Zelaya,  and 
he  hoped  to  place  another  dozen. 

The  couple  across  from  me  was  a strange  com- 
bination even  for  Central  America.  A Nicara- 
guan had  drifted  to  the  Philippines,  where  he 
had  held  a place  for  some  years  under  the  civil 
government  as  interpreter.  Meanwhile,  he  had 
married;  and  now  he  was  bringing  a frail,  oval- 


INTO  NICARAGUA 


151 


faced  little  Filipino  wife  back  to  settle  in  his 
native  land,  where  he  hoped  to  find  a position. 
She  was  wondering  if  she  should  like  Nicaragua, 
and  the  commercial  traveler  assured  her,  with  a 
sympathetic  glance,  that  she  would  find  it  differ- 
ent, but  that  Lake  Managua  was  beautiful. 

“Beautiful  as  Laguna  de  Bay?”  she  asked. 

“No  doubt,”  said  her  husband,  “much  more 
picturesque.”  But  he  was  plainly  apprehensive. 

An  overnight  run  always  meant  a new  repub- 
lic. One  realizes  the  distance  between  capitals 
only  when  he  has  to  go  overland  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son. The  next  morning  we  were  in  the  Bay  of 
Corinto,  which,  except  at  its  entrance,  has  none 
of  the  picturesqueness  of  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca. 
It  is  a basin  of  hot  water,  with  marshes  for  the 
rim  and  the  hills  too  distant  to  break  the  skyline 
of  a typical,  tropical,  low  country  landscape.  In 
the  foreground  a few  corrugated  iron  roofs  blazed 
under  the  sunshine  in  burning  contrast  to  the 
tiles  and  the  group  of  houses  melting  away 
among  the  palms  and  bushes.  The  pier  was  the 
subject  of  my  first  information  on  the  spot  about 
Nicaraguan  conditions. 

“No  matter  if  you  find  it  cheaper  and  quicker 
to  lighter  your  cargo,”  said  the  captain,  “you 
must  pay  landing  charges  to  the  pier  monopoly. 
Everything  is  run  by  monopolies  and  concessions 
here,  and  everybody’s  pretty  well  scared  to 
death.  Comparisons  in  these  countries  are  odious 


152 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


if  they  ever  were  anywhere  in  the  world;  but  I 
guess  you’ll  find  Nicaragua  the  worst  of  the 
lot.” 

We  ran  alongside  without  a solitary  breath 
stirring  the  stifling  heat.  Every  passenger  paid 
fifty  cents  for  himself  and  twenty-five  cents  for 
each  piece  of  baggage  dropped  on  the  pier. 
After  the  sergeant  of  police,  smoking  a long  cigar 
and  continually  expectorating,  had  accompanied 
me  to  the  comandante  for  the  usual  name,  occupa- 
tion, destination  and  object  of  travel,  came  the 
customs  examination.  The  police  who  stood 
around  overlooking  the  inspectors  ( of  whom  there 
were  six,  all  busy  at  one  time)  seemed  more  glee- 
fully truculent  than  any  I had  yet  met.  But  an 
American  who  has  ever  arrived  in  a home  port  is 
a poor  philosopher  if  he  complains  in  a foreign 
land. 

Every  article  from  my  steamer  trunk  was 
strewn  on  the  filthy  floor  of  the  comandanda,  or 
on  the  fragments  of  sidewalk  outside  the  door, 
every  inspector  joining  in  the  examination.  A 
bag  for  soiled  linen  and  shoes  seemed  particularly 
suspicious.  They  turned  it  inside  out  and  even 
felt  of  the  seams,  and  then  ran  their  hands  in  all 
the  shoe-tips.  I explained  what  each  article  was 
for,  and  patience  had  its  reward  in  saving  all  but 
one  camera  film  from  being  unrolled.  A pair  of 
patent  leather  slippers,  however,  was  laid  to  one 
side,  and  I saw  the  chief  inspector’s  eyes  regard- 


INTO  NICARAGUA 


163 


ing  them  covetously.  We  compromised  on  my 
retaining  the  slippers  by  the  payment  of  one 
dollar  in  duty,  which  he  put  in  his  pocket.  Then, 
while  they  expectorated  without  any  care  for  my 
wardrobe,  they  watched  me  repack  my  belong- 
ings. 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 


FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA 

A RESIDENT  American  said  that  it  would 
be  worth  while  to  call  on  the  local  com- 
andante  General  Rafael  Cesar  Medina,  a man  of 
distinction,  who  had  won  a victory  against  the 
rebels  in  one  of  the  many  armed  outbreaks  against 
President  Jose  Santos  Zelaya,  who  for  sixteen 
years  had  been  master  of  the  republic. 

“The  general  is  a type  of  Zelaya’s  military 
commanders,”  I was  told.  “You  will  see  for  your- 
self.” 

After  I had  waited  a few  moments  a woman 
came  out  of  his  office  with  her  head  bent  and  a 
rapid  step,  and  all  the  attendant  soldiers  and 
officials  looked  at  one  another  and  grinned.  She 
had  paid  the  price,  some  one  told  me,  which  it  is 
his  privilege  to  demand  of  any  woman  in  the  dis- 
trict. “Medina  is  a devil!”  as  the  people  of 
Corinto  say. 

Rarely  have  I seen  a face  more  brutal  or  sen- 
sual than  that  of  this  thickset  ladino,  who  received 
me  with  the  overwhelming  politeness  which  be- 
comes such  a mockery  in  Central  America.  He 

154 


FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA 


15S 


sent  for  beer;  he  talked  of  what  a healthy  port  he 
was  going  to  make  Corinto,  and  showed  me  a 
captive  jaguar  which  he  was  about  to  send  as  a 
present  to  Zelaya ; and  then  one  was  glad  to  flee, 
thinking  of  that  woman  with  the  bowled  head  and 
look  of  shame  as  she  went  past  the  grinning 
soldiers. 

There  was  time  enough  before  the  train  started 
to  have  a look  at  the  general’s  work  in  behalf  of 
sanitation.  The  resident  doctor  sent  by  the 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission,  under  arrangement 
with  the  Nicaraguan  government,  to  see  that  cer- 
tain health  regulations  were  carried  out  for  the 
sake  of  protection  of  the  port  of  Panama,  had 
written  many  letters  and  made  many  protests. 

The  general  said  that  maiiana  he  wras  going  to 
inaugurate  great  changes.  He  would  dispose  of 
the  night  soil,  dig  ditches,  and  spread  oil  over 
the  waterholes  where  the  mosquito  larvae  thrived ; 
but  privately,  as  he  had  to  foot  the  bills  himself 
out  of  his  perquisites,  he  saw  only  a waste  of 
money  which  might  go  to  other  luxuries.  An 
unusually  vigorous  protest  coming  through 
Managua  had  resulted  in  a display  of  energy.  A 
number  of  prisoners  were  set  to  cutting  some* of 
the  jungle  grass  in  the  streets,  a perfectly  inex- 
pensive reform,  with  the  general  superintending 
the  work  and  proudly  calling  attention  to  his 
progressive  policy. 

At  night  one  had  only  to  leave  the  water-front 


156 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


to  walk  into  a cloud  of  mosquitoes.  Dogs  and 
pigs  and  babies  rolled  in  the  mud  together  at  the 
doors.  Humanity  had  fallen  below  the  sanitary 
instincts  of  that  captive  jaguar.  One  who  walked 
through  the  outskirts  of  the  town  did  not  wonder 
that  the  population  of  Nicaragua  is  only  one-half 
that  of  a hundred  years  ago,  but  rather  how  any 
one  had  survived — and  this  in  the  second  main 
port  of  call  northward  from  Panama,  where 
sharp-eyed  inspection  has  given  the  world  the 
first  of  the  many  lessons  to  come  of  how  healthy 
the  tropics  may  be  made. 

The  cleanest  spot  outside  of  the  homes  of  the 
foreigners  is  that  of  which  Enrique  Papi  is  lord 
and  master.  Enrique  is  richly  deserving  of  his 
fame  on  the  west  coast.  Through  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  politics  with  the  finesse  of  a diplomat  he 
has  held  his  own.  He  lodges  and  feeds  the  occa- 
sional visitor;  he  changes  your  money  at  no  feeble 
rate  of  profit ; and  he  sells  you  a bottle  of  mineral 
water  at  a price  in  keeping  with  his  position  as  a 
monopolist. 

At  the  noon  meal  I met  a foreigner — his  name 
may  not  be  given  for  obvious  reasons — who  had  a 
small  coffee  jinca  up  in  the  Matagalpa  district. 
Forgetful  of  our  surroundings,  I began  to  ask 
him  pointed  questions  about  conditions.  He 
pinched  my  leg  and  whispered:  “Look  out!” 

“More  than  likely  some  one  at  that  table  could 
understand  English,”  he  explained  afterward, 


FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA 


157 


when  we  had  a moment  alone  together  on  the  way 
to  the  train.  “There  are  spies  all  about.  Every 
wrord  I said  and  worse  would  go  to  Managua. 
I’m  suspected  enough  as  it  is.  My  coffee  trees 
would  be  cut  down  overnight,  or  a building 
burned,  or  they  would  raise  the  price  of  labor  or 
let  me  have  none  in  the  picking  season.” 

He  was  an  apologetic,  cowed  kind  of  man  after 
twenty  years  in  Nicaragua.  It  was  out  of  the 
question  for  him  to  return  to  his  native  land  and 
begin  life  anew.  He  must  remain  and  make  the 
best  of  the  situation. 

“That  finca  is  all  I have  in  the  world,”  he  con- 
cluded. “If  it  weren’t  for  the  export  tax,  and 
all  the  official  exactions,  it  would  pay  handsomely. 
What  a splendid  coffee  country  it  is — and  going 
to  waste !” 

“Perhaps  a revolution  will  succeed  by  and  by 
and  there  wrill  be  a new  President,”  I suggested. 

“That’s  the  everlasting  error  of  outsiders,”  he 
said.  “A  change  in  the  man  will  not  make  any 
difference.  He,  too,  will  have  his  pockets  to  fill. 
It  is  the  despotic  system  that’s  at  fault,  and  there’s 
no  getting  away  from  it  in  this  country.  I ought 
to  have  known  better  than  to  come  to  Nicaragua; 
but  here  I am,  and  I must  make  the  best  of  it.” 

Soldiers  mounted  guard  at  the  steps  of  the  two 
passenger  cars  of  the  train ; there  were  guards  of 
soldiers  at  every  station  of  importance.  Name, 
occupation,  object  of  travel  were  taken  by  the 


158 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


police  before  starting,  of  course,  and  a sharp 
watch  was  kept  of  all  passengers  who  boarded 
the  train  along  the  route.  At  Chinandega,  the 
first  important  town,  we  were  relieved  of  an  of- 
ficial whose  followers,  a hard-looking  lot,  came  to 
greet  him.  They  supplied  the  only  signs  of  per- 
sonal prosperity  that  we  saw.  The  people  in  the 
streets  moved  at  the  pace  of  the  slow  ox-carts. 
Every  building  which  had  once  been  pretentious 
seemed  in  decay. 

Meanwhile,  the  Nicaraguan  husband  was  hear- 
ing anything  but  a reassuring  note  from  his  ex- 
patriated wife.  “How  filthy!  How  awful!  Not 
at  all  like  my  country!”  the  little  Filipino  woman 
kept  saying.  She  was  not  more  than  twenty-one, 
and  her  idea  of  Manila  had  been  formed  in 
American  times.  At  a later  station  the  Nicara- 
guan’s mother  appeared,  and  with  a look  that 
spoke  from  a full  heart  the  wife,  in  her  American 
shirtwaist,  submitted  to  the  embrace  of  a mother- 
in-law  in  Mother  Hubbard  wrapper,  who  had  at 
least  Spanish,  Indian  and  negro  blood  in  her 
veins. 

Such  mixtures  are  by  no  means  an  exception. 
The  belt  of  low  country  holding  the  fresh  water 
lakes  of  Nicaragua  and  Managua,  which,  with  the 
river  systems,  all  but  form  a natural  canal, 
brought  the  raider  of  the  sixteenth  century  and 
the  blacks  from  the  West  Indies  in  his  train. 

We  continued  i^ast  the  villages  of  flooded. 


Corinto.  the  leading  Pacific  coast  port  of  Nicaragua 


FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA  159 

floorless  huts,  the  entrance  to  a foreign  sugar 
estate  and  piles  of  dyewood  being  the  principal 
signs  of  industry.  In  the  gathering  darkness  the 
dull  sheen  of  Lake  Managua  appeared  through 
breaks  in  the  foliage,  from  which  we  emerged  as 
we  ran  beside  the  water  and  on  into  the  Estacion 
Central,  as  it  was  called,  which  is  really  the  plaza 
of  Managua,  the  capital. 

Both  the  plaza  and  the  streets  were  unlighted. 
In  pitch  blackness  and  pouring  rain  we  descended 
from  the  train,  and  I was  one  of  four  who  had 
the  good  luck  to  get  passage  to  the  hotel  in  the 
only  “ocean-going  hack”  that  was  on  duty.  The 
Hotel  Lapone  is  kept  by  an  Italian,  who  was  once 
a waiter  in  one  of  the  famous  London  hotels, 
where  his  wife  was  a chambermaid.  He  has  pros- 
pered exceedingly  in  this  and  other  ventures 
under  Presidential  patronage  by  adhering  to  the 
highest  scale  of  London  prices.  The  room  was 
five  dollars  a day,  on  the  European  plan,  with 
bath  under  a spout  in  the  yard. 

Later,  when  I came  to  pay  my  bill,  it  was  liter- 
ally two  bills,  one  in  American  gold  and  one  in 
Nicaraguan  currency,  with  a scheme  of  inter- 
change between  the  two  puzzling  in  method  if 
not  in  results.  Still,  I could  feel  that  I had  es- 
caped lightly,  compared  to  the  experience  of  a 
British  minister  accredited  to  Nicaragua,  who 
came  to  Managua  from  his  residential  post  at 


160 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Guatemala  City,  and  was  charged  $4,000  for  his 
two  weeks’  stay. 

The  wine  account,  with  champagne  at  $40  a 
bottle,  he  would  not  dispute,  because  he  said  it 
was  his  duty  to  have  looked  at  the  price  list.  He 
finally  compromised  on  a total  of  $2,000.  How 
much  of  this  the  President  of  the  republic  re- 
ceived as  his  portion  history  does  not  say.  Pre- 
sumably, enough  to  pay  for  the  official  banquet 
to  the  visitor. 

On  the  morning  after  arrival,  when  I inquired 
about  seeing  the  editor  of  the  local  paper  I was 
told  that  he  was  in  jail  for  having  printed  a rumor 
of  a rising  in  Salvador.  When  I asked  where  I 
could  find  a bank  that  would  honor  my  letter  of 
credit  I was  told  that  there  were  no  banks  in 
Nicaragua,  but  certain  firms  were  granted  the 
privilege  by  the  President  of  doing  a banking 
business.  However,  I would  have  to  wait,  as  this 
was  a fiesta  day.  It  was  well  to  be  told,  for  you 
would  hardly  have  guessed  the  fact  except  from 
the  closed  windows  of  the  few  shops. 

In  half  an  hour’s  stroll  you  had  the  compass  of 
a city  which  is  officially  given  30,000  souls,  but  at 
the  outside  cannot  have  more  than  20,000.  It 
lies  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  which  stretches  away 
to  a horizon  of  hot,  filmy  moisture.  Gradually 
the  waters  are  receding,  as  any  one  can  see  by  the 
shore  line.  The  natives  say  that  this  is  due  to 
the  poor  rains  of  late  years,  but  foreign  residents. 


FROM  CORINTO  TO  MANAGUA 


161 


in  want  of  any  scientific  record,  think  that  the 
earth’s  crust  is  rising. 

Such  was  the  heat  that  a few  minutes’  leisurely 
walking  started  the  perspiration.  Few  people 
came  and  went  in  the  streets.  Most  of  them  sat 
listlessly  in  the  windows,  when  they  had  any, 
otherwise  in  the  doors  of  the  humbler  dwellings, 
looking  out  on  the  mire. 

The  ill-clad  soldiers  were  omnipresent.  Their 
principal  barracks  adjoined  Zelaya’s  personal 
palace,  and  on  the  facade  of  this  ornate  building, 
brilliant  in  blue  and  red  letters,  was  the  mono- 
gram of  Jose  Santos  Zelaya,  founder  of  the 
Zelayan  system  of  politics,  finance  and  morals. 
Of  all  dictators  he  can  justifiably  lay  claim  to 
having  made  relatively  the  largest  fortune,  con- 
sidering his  impoverished  sources  of  extortion; 
and  in  other  respects  his  career  is  peculiarly  in 
keeping  with  the  history  of  Nicaragua. 


CHAPTER  SIXTEEN 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 

T T ISTORICALLY,  Nicaragua  is  the  Cen- 
A tral  American  classic.  In  its  later  story 
it  lacks  no  situation  of  the  Dark  Ages,  of  the 
feuds  of  Italian  cities,  of  the  religious  wars  in 
the  Netherlands,  or  of  the  French  Revolution, 
while  the  early  story  is  unique  in  its  peaceful  sim- 
plicity. Gil  Gonzalez  Davila  effected  the  con- 
quest in  1522  with  one  hundred  horses,  four  men 
and  his  grand  conceit  and  winning  manners. 

He  found  a large,  indolent  native  population, 
existing  easily  off  the  plentiful  fish  in  the  rivers 
and  the  products  of  the  bountiful  soil,  divided 
into  many  tribes  and,  in  the  highlands,  sharing 
the  Mayan  civilization.  The  first  chief  he  met 
was  Nicoya,  whom  he  told  of  the  all-powerful 
Christian  God,  who  could  send  unbelievers  to 
hell-fire  and  believers  to  heaven.  According  to 
the  persuasive  Gil’s  report  to  Spain,  Nicoya  con- 
cluded immediately  in  favor  of  bliss  rather  than 
burning,  and  he  and  all  his  followers  were  bap- 
tized. In  return  for  salvation,  Nicoya  made  Gil 

162 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


163 


a present  of  all  his  gold  idols  and  gold-dust  to 
the  value  of  16,000  Castellanos. 

Back  in  the  hills  was  a mightier  chief,  Nicara- 
gua, from  whom  the  country  takes  its  name. 
Nicoya  warned  Gil  that  Nicaragua  might  fight 
valiantly  if  angered;  or  if  approached  properly 
he  might  accept  Christianity.  So  Gil  sent  an 
embassy  with  this  message:  "Tell  him  that  a 

captain  cometh,  commissioned  to  these  parts  by 
the  great  King  of  the  Christians,  to  tell  all  the 
lords  of  these  lands  that  there  is  in  the  heavens, 
higher  than  the  sun,  one  Lord,  maker  of  all 
things,  and  that  those  believing  and  obeying  Him 
shall  at  death  ascend  to  that  loftiness,  while  dis- 
believers shall  be  driven  into  the  fire  beneath  the 
earth.  Tell  him  to  be  ready  to  hear  and  accept 
these  truths,  or  else  to  prepare  for  battle.” 

Nicaragua’s  answer  was  that  of  a proud  and 
hospitable  gentleman.  “Tell  those  who  sent 
you,”  he  said,  “that  I know  not  their  king,  and 
therefore  cannot  do  him  homage;  that  I fear  not 
their  sharp  swords,  but  love  peace  rather  than 
wTar;  gold  has  little  value,  they  are  welcome  to 
what  I have.  In  regard  to  the  religion  they  teach 
I will  talk  with  them,  and  if  I like  it  I will  adopt 
it.” 

Gil  now  proposed  an  exchange  of  gifts  before 
discussing  spiritual  affairs.  In  return  for  gold 
valued  at  15,000  Castellanos  he  gave  a shirt,  a 
red  cap  and  a silk  dress.  After  this  successful 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


164. 

bargain,  he  harangued  Nicaragua  on  the  value 
of  Christianity  through  the  grace  of  the  King  of 
Spain.  But  Nicaragua  begged  to  ask  the  mis- 
sionary a few  questions. 

“You  who  know  so  much  of  the  maker  and  of 
the  making  of  this  world,  tell  me,”  he  said,  “of 
the  great  flood,  and  will  there  be  another?  In  the 
universal  end,  will  the  earth  be  overturned,  or 
will  the  sky  fall  and  destroy  us?  Whence  do 
the  sun  and  moon  obtain  their  light,  and  how 
will  they  lose  it?  How  large  are  the  stars?  How 
are  they  held  in  the  sky  and  moved  about  ? Why 
are  the  nights  made  dark  and  the  winters  cold? 
Why  did  not  the  Christian’s  God  make  a better 
world?  What  honor  is  due  Him?  And  what 
rights  and  duties  has  man,  under  whose  dominion 
are  the  beasts?  Whither  goes  the  soul  which  you 
hold  to  be  immortal  when  it  leaves  the  body? 
Does  the  Pope  never  die,  and  is  the  great  King  of 
Spain  a mortal,  and  why  do  the  Christians  so  love 
gold?” 

Gil  answered  all  most  satisfactorily,  accord- 
ing to  his  accounts,  though  he  does  not  say  how. 
“Came  these  men  from  heaven?”  Nicaragua 
asked  of  the  interpreter.  “Yes,”  was  the  an- 
swer. “But  in  what  way?”  asked  Nicaragua; 
“directly  down,  like  the  flight  of  an  arrow,  or 
riding  a cloud,  or  in  a circuit  like  a bent  bow?” 
The  interpreter’s  reply  is  not  recorded.  Possibly 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


165 


he  said  that  this  detail  was  known  only  to  the 
King  of  Spain. 

After  he  had  exercised  his  wits  long  enough, 
Nicaragua  concluded : “I  see  no  harm  in  it.  We 
cannot,  however,  give  up  our  war-paint  and 
weapons,  our  gay  decorations  and  dances,  and 
become  women.”  Then,  according  to  Bancroft, 
“upon  a high  mound,  whose  summit  was  reached 
by  steps,  Gil  Gonzalez  had  planted  the  cross  upon 
first  entering  the  town.  A procession  headed  by 
the  Spanish  and  the  native  leaders  now  marched 
solemnly  about  the  town,  and  ascended  the  steps 
of  the  mound  on  their  knees,  chanting  their 
hymns  of  praise  the  while.  Proceeding  to  the 
temple,  they  erected  there  an  altar,  and  jointly 
placed  upon  it  the  sacred  emblem,  in  token  the 
one  of  giving  and  the  other  of  receiving  the  true 
faith.”  Gil  says  that  in  one  day  he  personally 
catechized  every  one  of  the  9,017  natives.  Ilis 
exactitude  about  the  number  ought  to  be  con- 
vincing to  any  skeptic. 

But  peace  in  Nicaragua  was  transient.  Gil’s 
men  were  soon  trying  by  treacherous  attack  to 
force  such  gold  from  the  natives  as  they  would 
not  give.  Other  conquerors  set  claim  to  this  land 
of  treasure,  with  its  amiable  people.  Among 
them  was  Cortez.  These  quarrels  were  carried 
to  the  court  of  Spain  when  not  fought  out  on  the 
spot;  and  while  Guatemala  was  under  single 
headed  authority,  Nicaragua  became  the  scene 


166 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


of  the  broils  of  fortune-hunters,  who  set  the  ex- 
ample for  the  feuds  of  leaders  and  communities 
which  followed  independence. 

At  the  end  of  Spanish  dominion  in  1822 
Nicaragua  must  have  had  nearly  2,000,000  popu- 
lation. The  prosperous  cities  of  Granada  and 
Leon  each  had  a hundred  thousand.  Then  for 
more  than  thirty  years  the  civil  tumult  of  munici- 
pality against  municipality,  house  against  house, 
family  against  family  and  neighbor  against 
neighbor  continued.  Men  of  wealth  were  forced 
to  beggary  on  the  highways.  The  fertile  plateau 
of  the  northern  midland  was  devastated  and  de- 
populated, until,  by  1850,  probably  less  than 
500,000  people  remained. 

The  extreme  bitterness  of  feeling  may  be  better 
understood  when  one  knows  the  type  of  men  who 
ruled.  Gomez  says  of  Manuel  Antonio  de  la 
Cerda,  the  first  Chief  of  State  of  Nicaragua,  that 
he  “wras  very  similar  to  many  of  the  feudal  barons 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  He  would  smile  pleasantly 
when  the  ears  of  his  enemies  were  presented  to 
him  strung  upon  the  blade  of  a sword.”  He  was, 
however,  said  to  be  “incapable  of  stealing  a cent,” 
and  he  w^as  always  faithful  to  the  wife  given  him 
by  the  Church. 

Although  internecine  struggle  was  largely 
ended  by  Morazan  during  his  eight  years’  Presi- 
dency of  the  Central  American  union,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  office,  in  1839,  war  between 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


167 


the  States  themselves  waged  as  fiercely  as  ever. 
A curious  body  of  troops  called  “The  Protecting 
Army  of  Peace,”  composed  of  the  allied  armies 
of  Salvador  and  Honduras,  under  Malespin,  in- 
vaded Nicaragua,  and  one  of  the  bloodiest  of 
Central  American  wars  ensued.  The  Protecting 
Army  of  Peace  laid  siege  to  the  capital  city  Leon 
for  fifty-nine  days,  when  its  inhabitants  were  put 
to  the  sword,  and  the  houses  pillaged  and  burned. 
Many  of  the  principal  citizens  were  shot,  and  the 
ferocity  of  the  army  was  unequaled.  A priest 
from  the  hospital,  who  went  to  Malespin  to  beg 
for  mercy  for  the  sick  who  were  being  murdered 
by  the  soldiers,  was  himself  shot  for  interfering. 

Among  the  troubles  of  Nicaragua  at  this  time 
is  the  action  of  British  on  the  Mosquito  Coast, 
which  threatened  the  independence  of  the  whole 
country.  Recognizing  the  claim  of  the  pseudo 
King  of  Mosquitia  to  a territory  340  miles  long 
and  over  200  miles  wide,  they  established  a pro- 
tectorate and  ordered  the  Nicaraguans  to  leave, 
proclaiming  a man  of  mixed  negro  and  Indian 
blood  king.  In  1848  the  British  took  possession 
of  San  Juan  del  Norte  in  his  name  and  appointed 
a negro  governor,  calling  the  town  Greytown. 
Directly  the  gunboats  had  gone,  the  Nicaraguans 
returned  and  put  the  governor  in  jail.  When  this 
reached  the  ears  of  the  British,  they  returned  and 
landing  marines  advanced  up  the  San  Juan 
River,  forcing  the  President  of  Nicaragua  to  sign 


168 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


a treaty  recognizing  the  Kingdom  of  the  Mos- 
quitos. He  appealed  to  both  England  and 
America  without  results,  until  the  signing  of  the 
Clayton-Buhver  treaty  by  these  two  countries, 
by  which  both  were  prohibited  from  colonizing 
or  giving  protectoral  influence  to  any  Central 
American  republic.  In  1860  Nicaragua  took 
formal  control  of  the  Mosquito  coast. 

The  first  American  minister  to  Nicaragua  ar- 
rived at  Leon  in  1849,  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
was  announced  and  accepted  by  the  Legislative 
Assembly  at  Managua  in  the  autumn.  Already 
American  immigration  was  noticeable  in  Central 
America,  and  Jose  Alfaro,  now  chief  executive 
of  Nicaragua,  lacking  confidence  in  his  own  mili- 
tary strength  against  his  neighbors,  asked  per- 
mission of  the  Assembly  to  bring  in  United  States 
troops  as  auxiliaries,  giving  them,  in  return  for 
their  assistance  when  needed,  government  lands 
and  the  rights  of  citizenship.  The  request  was 
refused.  Shortly  after,  an  insurrection  broke  out 
at  San  Juan  del  Norte,  led  by  Americans,  which 
was  defeated  by  Alfaro’s  troops,  and  a number 
of  Americans  w^ere  taken  prisoners. 

Two  years  later,  1851,  the  American  Transit 
Company,  under  the  control  of  Commodore  Van- 
derbilt, closed  a contract  with  the  government 
for  the  transportation  of  passengers  across  Nica- 
ragua. The  California  gold  fever  was  at  its 
height,  and  travelers  were  numerous.  The  com- 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


169 


panv  agreed  to  pay  the  government  10  per  cent, 
of  the  net  profits  and  transport  free  in  its  steam- 
ers all  government  troops  and  provisions.  But 
the  friendliness  of  Nicaragua  to  the  United 
States  was  disturbed  a year  after  by  a treaty  on 
the  part  of  Washington  and  the  British  minister 
fixing  the  boundary  between  Nicaragua  and 
Costa  Rica  and  stipulating  the  segregation  of  the 
Mosquito  coast.  The  Nicaragua  Assembly  in- 
dignantly protested  against  further  foreign  inter- 
ference in  her  affairs  of  State. 

About  this  time  a new  Constitution  was  adopt- 
ed by  the  Assembly,  extending  the  term  of  office 
of  the  Director  of  State  to  four  years  and  chang- 
ing his  title  to  President  and  the  title  of  State  to 
Republic.  Nicaragua  was  also  declared  to  be 
out  of  the  Central  American  union. 

It  was  now  time  for  another  revolution,  this 
time  Honduras  aiding  the  Nicaraguan  malcon- 
tents in  revenge  for  Nicaragua’s  withdrawal  from 
the  union.  The  revolutionists  landed  at  Reale  jo 
and  marched  on,  gathering  reinforcements,  until 
they  met  President  Chamorro  in  command  of  his 
troops  near  Leon.  Defeating  him,  war  without 
quarter  was  begun  with  the  attack  upon  Granada 
— the  government  troops  having  joined  the  revo- 
lutionists— which  was  sacked  and  partly  burned, 
after  a siege  of  eight  months;  and,  says  Gomez, 
“sad  it  is  to  say  that  after  thirty  years  of  war 
there  existed  in  Nicaragua  the  same  thirst  for 


170 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


blood  and  the  same  inhuman  cruelty  of  the  first 
contestants.” 

As  if  this  were  not  trouble  enough,  an  Ameri- 
can gunboat,  which  had  been  sent  by  the  United 
States  to  examine  into  alleged  insults  to  the 
American  minister,  Mr.  Borland,  bombarded  the 
port  of  San  Juan  del  Norte  and  landed  marines, 
who  burned  it  to  the  ground. 

With  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Granada  in 
1855,  the  legitimistas,  as  they  called  themselves 
in  distinction  from  the  revolutionists,  furiously  at- 
tacked every  one  suspected  of  being  friendly  to 
the  other  side.  The  prisons  were  filled  with  inno- 
cent men  and  women,  who  were  most  cruelly 
treated.  Such  acts  only  strengthened  the  revo- 
lutionists. Shortly  before  the  raising  of  the  siege, 
Byron  Cole,  an  American,  had  arranged  with 
Castellon,  provisional  Director  of  State,  on  behalf 
of  the  revolutionists,  for  the  services  of  three  hun- 
dred Americans  for  military  duty  under  the  guise 
of  a colonization  grant  for  them  with  the  privi- 
lege of  bearing  arms,  thus  evading  the  neutrality 
law  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  strength  of  this,  William  Walker,  with 
56  Americans,  arrived  in  June,  1855,  for  the  cam- 
paign against  the  legitimistas,  and  was  commis- 
sioned colonel  by  Castellon,  and  his  force  called 
the  American  Phalanx.  With  the  addition  of  a 
hundred  natives  he  marched  against  the  town  of 
Rivas,  but  was  repulsed,  the  enemy  having  been 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


171 


advised  of  Walker’s  movements.  He  then  set 
sail  for  San  Juan  del  Sur,  where,  at  Virgen  Bay, 
he  was  attacked  by  the  legitimistas  and  six  hun- 
dred picked  men  under  Guardiola,  known  as  the 
“butcher  of  Central  America” ; but  the  sharp  rifle 
fire  of  the  Americans  won. 

Six  w eeks  later  he  captured  Granada  and  made 
a treaty  of  peace  with  the  legitimista  commander. 
Patricio  Rivas  was  made  provisional  President 
and  Walker  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and 
the  new'  government  endeavored  to  reconcile  all 
parties.  Everything  w'as  done  to  encourage  the 
immigration  of  Americans  from  California,  each 
adult  receiving  250  acres  of  land  after  six  months’ 
residence,  and  being  permitted  to  bring  in  duty 
free  furniture,  implements,  animals,  seeds  and 
personal  effects,  until,  early  in  1856,  there  wrere 
some  twelve  hundred  Americans  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  in  the  country. 

From  the  first  Costa  Rica  w'as  hostile  to  the 
influx  of  Americans,  and  in  March,  1856,  de- 
clared war  against  Nicaragua  and  the  “fili- 
busters.” Walker  at  once  dispatched  four  com- 
panies of  American,  F rench  and  German  soldiers 
to  Costa  Rica,  where  they  wrere  defeated,  and  the 
Costa  Rican  troops  entering  Vfrgen  Bay,  mas- 
sacred nine  Americans  and  destroyed  the  proper- 
ty of  the  Transit  Company.  Proceeding  to  Rivas, 
they  wTere  surprised  by  Walker,  but  forced  him  to 
withdraw,  with  a loss  of  120  out  of  550.  How- 


172 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ever,  they  soon  returned  to  Costa  Rica  on  account 
of  the  cholera  which  was  raging  in  Nicaragua, 
and  which  they  carried  back  with  them  to  San 
Jose,  where  it  is  said  that  10,000  died  before  it 
was  stamped  out. 

Meanwhile,  a provisional  government  was 
declared  by  Walker,  and  at  the  election  held  soon 
after  he  was  chosen  President  and  inaugurated 
at  Granada  on  July  12,  1856.  The  American 
minister  promptly  recognized  Walker  in  spite  of 
the  protests  of  President  Rivas,  and  the  Nicara- 
guan government  refused  to  have  further  rela- 
tions with  the  minister ; while,  on  his  side.  Walker 
issued  a decree  confiscating  the  property  of  those 
who  might  fight  against  him. 

Three  months  later  Guatemalan  and  Salva- 
dorian troops  occupied  northern  Nicaragua  and 
attacked  Granada  and  were  joined  later  by 
Costa  Rica  and  Honduras.  Walker’s  men  were 
hard  pressed  and  his  losses  so  heavy  that  in  De- 
cember, unable  to  hold  Granada,  which  he  had 
retaken,  he  destroyed  it.  Costa  Rica  having 
gained  possession  of  the  San  Juan  River  as  far 
as  San  Juan  del  Norte,  by  a coup  captured  the 
steamers,  thus  gaining  control  of  navigation  and 
cutting  off  a valuable  arm  of  support  for  Walker. 
It  was  at  this  juncture  that  an  attempt  was  made 
to  help  him  by  the  three  Americans,  Lockridge, 
Wheat  and  Anderson,  which,  however,  failed. 
When  Walker  learned  of  this,  he  saw  the  futility 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY 


173 


of  further  resistance  and,  sending  for  General 
Mora,  brother  of  the  President  of  Costa  Rica, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  allied  forces,  he 
agreed  to  surrender  to  Commander  Davis,  of  the 
American  sloop-of-war  St.  Mary’s,  which  had 
been  lying  at  San  Juan  del  Sur  since  early  in 
February. 

Desirous  of  ending  the  war,  which  had  already 
lasted  over  a year,  Mora  did  not  stand  on  the 
point  of  surrender  to  himself,  but  consented  to 
allow  Walker  to  yield  to  Davis;  and  on  May  1, 
1857,  Walker  and  his  officers  marched  out  of  the 
town  of  Rivas  with  their  side  arms  and  embarked 
on  the  St.  Mary’s,  followed  by  400  of  their  men. 
All  were  taken  to  the  United  States. 

But  though  Walker  had  gone,  the  revolution- 
ists and  the  legitimistas  were  still  unreconciled. 
General  Jerez,  of  the  Rivas’  or  revolutionist  gov- 
ernment, and  General  Martinez,  of  the  legiti- 
mistas, declared  themselves  joint  dictators,  and  a 
new  government  was  set  up  at  Managua  in  June. 
Costa  Rica  still  remained  in  possession  of  the  San 
Juan  River,  despite  Nicaragua’s  protests;  and 
the  United  States,  through  its  diplomatic  agent 
at  San  Jose,  informed  that  government  that  its 
occupancy  of  Nicaraguan  territory  by  conquest 
of  the  filibusters  would  not  be  recognized.  More- 
over, ambitious  President  Mora  was  not  upheld 
in  this  by  the  Costa  Ricans,  who  repudiated  his 


174 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


policy  at  their  first  opportunity,  but  not  until 
Nicaragua  had  declared  war  on  Costa  Rica. 

At  this  moment  Walker  saw  an  opportunity 
for  himself,  and,  evading  the  American  govern- 
ment, landed  at  San  Juan  del  Norte;  but  was 
seized  and  sent  home  by  Commodore  Paulding. 
Undaunted,  a third  time  he  invaded  Central 
America  with  the  intention  of  subjugating  it, 
landing  at  Trujillo,  Honduras,  in  August,  1860. 
He  was  taken  by  the  British  and  turned  over  to 
General  Alvarez,  head  of  the  Honduran  forces, 
who,  after  a trial  by  court-martial,  sentenced 
Walker  to  death.  He  was  shot  September  12, 
1860. 

With  the  election  of  General  Martinez  as 
President  in  1857,  Nicaragua  entered  upon  what 
was  for  her  a long  period  of  internal  peace.  Five 
years  later,  with  Guatemala,  war  is  declared 
against  Salvador  and  Honduras,  and  in  1863 
some  discontent  manifested  itself  among  the 
Nicaraguans,  but  was  subdued  by  stringent  meas- 
ures. Other  attempts  at  revolution,  based  on  the 
pretext  that  Martinez  intended  to  hold  office  for 
life,  were  put  down;  and  in  proof  of  his  honesty 
of  purpose  he  insisted  on  giving  up  the  Presi- 
dency, and  Fernando  Guzman  was  elected  in 
1867.  Two  years  later,  General  Jerez  and  ex- 
President  Martinez  start  a revolution,  charging 
Guzman  with  violating  his  pledges,  usurpation  of 
power,  nepotism  and  illegal  expenditures.  After 


NICARAGUAN  HISTORY  175 

four  months’  civil  war,  peace  was  arranged 
through  the  United  States  minister. 

From  this  time  till  1881  there  were  only  a few 
uprisings  which  were  easily  quelled.  Under  the 
Presidency  of  General  Zavala,  in  1881,  a serious 
Indian  insurrection  took  place  at  Matagalpa,  said 
to  have  been  instigated  by  the  Jesuits,  and  an 
even  more  alarming  revolt  at  Leon,  with  the 
clergy  arrayed  against  the  troops.  For  this  the 
Jesuits  were  expelled  from  the  country.  In  1885, 
word  that  Barrios,  of  Guatemala,  intended  to 
reconstruct  Central  America  by  force  brought 
about  an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  be- 
tween Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica  and  Salvador,  and 
five  hundred  soldiers  were  sent  to  Salvador’s  as- 
sistance. The  death  of  Barrios  ended  the  danger. 

It  was  during  the  Presidency  of  Joaquin 
Zavala  that  Jose  Santos  Zelaya,  who  was  later  to 
play  such  an  important  part  in  Nicaraguan  his- 
tory, first  came  into  public  notice.  His  family 
had  never  entered  politics,  being  content  with 
coffee  planting  and  farming.  Young  Zelaya  was 
sent  abroad  to  complete  his  education,  and  on  his 
return  found  life  on  a hacienda  too  dull  for  his 
taste.  He  at  once  entered  the  field  of  politics, 
and  spoke  openly  against  the  President  as  out 
of  date.  Being  accused  of  instigating  an  out- 
break, he  was  arrested  and  permitted  to  leave  the 
country  for  his  family’s  sake.  He  went  directly 
to  Guatemala,  where,  first  in  the  army  and  later 


176 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


on  Barrios’  staff,  he  proved  himself  an  apt  pupil 
of  Barrios’  methods.  On  the  death  of  Barrios, 
Zelaya,  who  was  a born  mischief-maker,  went  to 
Salvador  and  was  one  of  the  most  active  partici- 
pants in  a revolt  which  deposed  the  President. 
He  then  ventured  to  return  to  his  own  country. 

In  1893  a revolution  broke  out  in  Nicaragua, 
and  the  President,  Roberto  Sacasa,  was  forced  to 
fly.  The  provisional  government  established  was 
soon  overturned,  and  Joaquin  Zavala  came  into 
power  for  the  second  time.  But  the  smoldering 
discontent  of  the  city  of  Leon  toward  Granada 
would  not  permit  Zavala,  who  was  the  choice  of 
the  Conservatives  of  Granada,  to  remain  long  in 
office.  The  people  of  Leon  casting  about  for  a 
leader  found  one  all  too  willing  in  the  person  of 
Zelaya,  and  made  him  commander-in-chief  of 
their  army,  sending  him  against  Zavala.  After 
two  days’  fighting  at  Managua,  the  capital,  Ze- 
laya entered  the  city  and  called  for  the  National 
Congress  to  appoint  a provisional  President,  him- 
self. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEEN 


CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA 

rTJHOSE  natives  whom  he  rewarded  with 
places  for  having  killed  his  enemies  and 
obeyed  his  orders  generally  spoke  of  Zelaya,  when 
I was  in  Nicaragua,  as  the  “Lion  of  Central 
America.”  He  w as  infinitely  abler  than  Cabrera, 
they  said;  but  such  comparisons  carry  one  into 
labyrinthian  discriminations  between  tyrants 
scarcely  worth  following.  Zelaya  can  boast  of  a 
sense  of  humor.  He  enjoyed  the  farces  of  his  re- 
elections,  and  on  one  occasion  put  three  candi- 
dates in  the  field,  Senores  Jose,  Santos  and  Ze- 
laya, and  he  solenuilv  announced  Jose  Santos 
Zelaya  as  having  been  elected.  He  was  equally 
sardonic  in  his  treatment  of  a Peruvian  in  busi- 
ness in  Nicaragua,  who  one  day  received  word 
that  he  must  depart  by  the  next  steamer  from 
Corinto. 

“Your  excellency,”  he  protested,  when  he 
gained  admission  to  the  President,  “what  have  I 
done?  I have  tried  not  to  meddle  in  politics  and 
to  mind  my  own  business.” 

“It  does  not  matter  what  you  have  done,”  re- 

177 


178 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


turned  Zelaya.  “I  want  you  to  go,  and  you  will 
go.” 

“But,  your  excellency,  I have  debts  owing 
me.  I have  many  affairs  that  cannot  be  settled 
on  such  short  notice  without  great  sacrifice.  Will 
you  not  give  me  thirty  days?” 

“Not  another  day  after  the  next  steamer.  I’ll 
appoint  an  agent  to  look  after  your  business” — 
and  of  course  Zelaya  would  get  most  of  the  spoils 
from  the  agent. 

“Then,  your  excellency,  as  a citizen  of  Peru, 
I must  appeal  to  my  government.” 

“Appeal !”  said  Zelaya.  “Appeal  by  all  means ! 
When  I ridicule  the  United  States,  laugh  at  Ger- 
many, and  spit  on  England,  what  do  you  suppose 
I care  for  your  beggarly  little  Peru?” 

He  set  himself  to  the  task  of  organizing  the 
finances  of  Nicaragua  immediately  he  was  secure 
in  his  place.  His  methods  of  pacification  were 
typical  of  other  dictators,  with  the  difference  that, 
as  a method  of  torture,  he  substituted  for  the  cus- 
tomary lashings  an  enema  of  Chile  peppers  and 
alcohol.  When  his  arsenal  was  destroyed  by  an 
explosion,  no  doubt  due  either  to  the  carelessness 
of  a watchman  or  to  spontaneous  combustion,  he 
had  the  officers  in  command  executed  by  slow 
degrees  of  torture,  and  their  bodies  publicly 
burned  on  the  site  of  the  ruins.  He  destroyed 
villages  where  any  disloyalty  showed  itself,  and 
frequently  drove  all  the  people  away  to  jail  or 


CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA 


179 


to  hard  labor.  “The  Nicaraguans  understand 
only  harsh  measures,  and  they  shall  not  want  for 
them,”  he  said. 

Coming  into  power  as  a representative  of 
Liberalism,  which  was  to  free  the  people  from  the 
“oligarchy  of  property  holders” — he  was  wront  to 
compare  himself  to  the  patrician  Caesar  taking  up 
the  cause  of  the  plebeians — his  career  has  been 
the  more  diabolical  because  he  was  not  a ladino , 
but  a man  of  pure  white  blood,  who  had  had  the 
benefit  of  a foreign  education. 

Of  course  he  did  not  neglect  the  custom  of 
forced  loans  from  the  well-to-do,  which,  however, 
was  a poor  field,  because  of  the  impoverishment 
of  Nicaragua,  compared  to  the  one  his  rival, 
Cabrera,  had  in  Guatemala.  He  created  himself 
treasurer  and  banker  for  all  the  industries  of  the 
land  by  the  simplest  sort  of  a system.  Every 
staple  of  life,  from  whisky  to  medicine,  was  made 
a monopoly,  with  himself  a sharer  in  the  profits. 
Too  often  his  partner  was  an  American  or  some 
other  foreigner.  It  was  one  of  that  type  which 
enjoys  the  privilege  of  naturalization  who  said 
to  me:  “The  old  man’s  a wonder  at  business. 

Take  that  whisky  monopoly!  The  profits  are 
120  per  cent,  a year.  Yes,  that’s  what  I get  on 
every  dollar’s  worth  of  stock.  Pretty  good,  eh?” 
Decidedly  unsurpassed  of  its  kind.  The  in- 
vestor ought  not  to  mind  if  his  capital  were  de- 
stroyed after  ten  years’  profits  by,  a revolution 


180 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


which  quashed  the  monopoly  in  favor  of  one  of 
its  own. 

So  skilfully  did  Zelaya  develop  the  sale  of  the 
native  intoxicant  made  from  molasses  that  in 
place  of  one  drinking-place  when  he  became 
President,  Corinto  had  twenty,  and  drunkenness 
was  spreading  in  a climate  where  intoxicants  are 
so  poisonous  both  to  mind  and  body  that  the 
moderate  drinker  in  the  temperate  zone  is  quick 
to  defend  and  practice  total  abstinence. 

The  tobacco  monopoly  paid  only  a paltry 
8 per  cent,  a month.  Dr.  Luis  H.  Deboyle, 
Zelaya’s  physician,  had  a concession  to  import 
medicine  free  for  his  hospital.  As  he  was  the 
judge  of  how  much  medicine  his  hospital  needed, 
he  had  a grip  on  the  wholesale  drug  business  of 
the  entire  country.  His  patients  consumed  so 
much  petroleum  that  a hundred  cases  were 
brought  in  free  in  a single  consignment. 

Joaquin  Passos,  the  President’s  son-in-law, 
who  had  the  oil  monopoly,  might  well  have  ob- 
jected to  this  invasion  of  his  preserves  had  he  not 
been  of  generous  nature  and  well  treated  him- 
self. He  was  allowed  to  bring  in  50,000  cases  a 
year  at  the  old  rate  of  duty,  while  any  other  im- 
porter had  to  pay  so  exorbitant  a rate  that  he 
could  not  compete,  or,  if  he  could,  the  smashing 
of  a few  of  his  cases  on  landing  would  put  an  end 
to  the  competition.  The  price  to  the  consumer 


Typical  Nicaraguan  soldiers 


An  ox-cart  in  San  Jose.  Costa  Rica 


CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA 


181 


rose  from  $24  to  $34,  which  meant  a profit  of 
$500,000  to  the  concessionaire. 

“See  Joaquin”  became  the  commonplace  of 
Nicaraguan  official  life.  “See  Joaquin”  if  you 
had  arms  to  sell,  if  you  wanted  the  exclusive  right 
to  keep  a hotel  unmolested  by  the  police  in  a 
town,  or  if  you  wanted  a concession.  Zelaya  made 
Nicaragua  the  concession  hunter’s  paradise.  If 
you  saw  Joaquin  in  a proper  spirit  there  seemed 
nothing  that  you  might  not  have  in  the  way  of 
great  expectations. 

Of  late  years  the  problem  was  how  to  float  a 
company  at  home  to  exploit  the  exclusive  privi- 
leges so  readily  granted.  Nicaraguan  concessions 
became  the  joke  of  capital.  They  had  been  grant- 
ed by  thousands.  Some  are  not  worth  the  paper 
they  are  written  on,  much  less  the  sums  paid  to 
Zelaya  as  his  perquisite.  Others  are  valuable. 
Many  are  shameful  beyond  words  in  the  resources 
which  they  surrendered.  The  mining  rights  of 
about  one-third  of  the  country’s  whole  area  were 
given  to  one  man;  exclusive  privilege  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  San  Juan  River  to  a single  steamship 
company,  which,  however,  has  the  merit  of  de- 
veloping the  banana  lands  on  the  banks. 

Nor  did  Zelaya  overlook  the  tariff  as  a source 
of  income.  Rubber,  mahogany,  dyewoods,  cof- 
fee, and  all  the  staple  products  of  the  land  suffer 
an  export  tax.  Imports  are  valued  by  weight, 
and  the  perplexing  schedule  of  surtaxes  leaves 


lm 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


the  application  largely  a matter  of  the  individual 
volition  of  the  captain  of  the  port.  All  duties 
are  payable  in  rubber  bonds,  an  invention  of  Ze- 
laya’s  peculiarly  resourceful  mind.  If  paid  in 
gold,  an  additional  premium  of  50  per  cent,  is 
exacted.  Naturally,  rubber  bonds  at  the  time  of 
my  visit  were  above  par,  and,  needless  to  say, 
were  mostly  in  the  hands  of  Zelaya  and  his 
friends. 

It  may  be  said  that  it  is  bad  taste  to  criticize 
a ruler’s  morals ; but  Zelaya’s  have  been  a pattern 
for  a generation  of  youth.  He  was  a pagan  by 
his  own  confession,  who  refused  to  allow  the  sim- 
ple unsectarian  propaganda  of  the  Bible  Society 
to  enter  the  country.  According  to  his  own  offi- 
cial figures,  58  per  cent,  of  the  population  were 
of  illegitimate  birth.  He  boasted  that  he  was  the 
father  of  forty-five  children.  When  he  traveled 
through  the  country  he  ordered  any  girl  who 
pleased  his  fancy  brought  to  him.  The  father 
or  brother  who  protested  would  be  sent  to  jail; 
or  if  he  wished  to  leave  the  country  permission 
was  refused.  And  there  are  still  parents  in 
Nicaragua  who  do  mind  such  things,  though  not 
many  after  seventeen  years  of  such  rule;  and  the 
droits  de  seigneur  which  Zelaya  exercised  in 
Nicaragua  as  a whole,  every  jefe  and  coman- 
dante  might  exercise  in  his  own  district. 

After  our  choice  of  the  Panama  instead  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  route,  which  meant  much  to  his 


CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA 


183 


fortunes,  Zelaya  had  a personal  grudge  against 
the  United  States.  lie  searched  a Pacific  Mail 
liner  at  her  pier  on  one  occasion;  he  opened  our 
legation  mail  regularly,  and  delayed  official  tele- 
grams. Still  we  did  not  protest.  Possibly  he 
thought  that  there  was  no  limit  to  which  he  could 
not  go.  Where  other  Presidents  first  take  care 
not  to  offend  the  United  States  too  far  lest  it 
bring  one  of  our  sudden  explosions  of  wrath,  he 
was  inclined  to  truculence. 

Otherwise,  his  character  is  in  keeping  with  that 
of  his  type,  which  I try  to  explain  under  “Revo- 
lution as  a Profession,”  in  so  far  as  an  American 
can  understand  it.  Greed  may  have  kept  him  in 
office  long  after  he  had  a large  competency.  But 
he  loved  intrigue  no  less  than  Cabrera;  he  loved 
to  beat  all  his  Central  American  rivals ; to  be  the 
great  man  of  Central  America.  Driving  his  mis- 
erable soldiers  off  to  war  seemed  to  appeal  to 
him  as  a kind  of  national  sport. 

It  was  not  with  any  regret,  except  at  not  hav- 
ing visited  the  haunts  of  Chief  Nicaragua  in  the 
highlands,  that  one  left  Managua  for  Corinto. 
General  Medina  had  mowed  at  least  a quarter 
acre  of  jungle  grass  and  was  resting  on  his 
laurels,  while  the  unhappy  Canal  Zone  doctor, 
under  his  mosquito  net,  was  meditating  another 
petition  (to  the  inward  amusement  of  the  general, 
no  doubt) . 

Before  going  aboard  the  steamer  I had  a talk 


184« 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


with  an  Italian,  a Lombard,  and  a fine  type  of  his 
countrymen,  such  as  are  filling  Argentina  with 
energy  and  prosperity,  who  had  shown  how  suc- 
cessfully sugar  could  be  grown  in  Nicaragua.  It 
was  a talk  to  be  remembered.  His  property  had 
gone  into  the  control  of  a company,  and  he  was 
soon  returning  home  for  good. 

“They  complain  of  the  labor,”  he  said,  “but  I 
have  found  it  not  so  bad  when  the  men  knew  that 
I could  protect  their  earnings.  What  have  they 
to  work  for?  How  can  there  be  industry  with  the 
continual  extortion  and  conscription?” 

“Perhaps  Zelaya  will  go,”  I suggested. 

“No  doubt  he  will  soon — when  any  crisis  gives 
him  the  opportunity  and  he  is  sure  of  not  being 
assassinated  by  his  henchmen,  who  will  lose  their 
places  when  a new  tyrant  comes.  But  if  he  does 
go  it  will  make  no  difference.  There  can  be  no 
hope  from  the  inside.  The  thing  has  gone  too 
far;  the  habit  of  tyranny  is  too  settled.  There 
must  be  a return  to  the  first  principles  of  invio- 
lability of  private  property,  of  order  and  simple 
justice.  Do  any  of  these  revolutionists  under- 
stand the  application  of  these  principles,  either 
as  good  economy,  policy,  or  for  their  own  sake? 

“You  Americans  talk  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  of  giving  the  weak  sister  republics  a chance. 
You  are  coming  when  it  pays  you,  not  before. 
How  can  I believe  in  your  high  ideals  when  I 
have  seen  their  results?  But  you  will  come,  and 


CONDITIONS  IN  NICARAGUA  185 

to  stay,  and  when  you  do  it  will  not  be  wisely, 
but  with  a harsh  hand,  suddenly,  when  you  are 
angry.  You  will  take  a violent  interest,  or  none 
at  all.  It  is  a rich  country  going  to  waste,  how 
rich  only  those  who  live  here  can  know.  The 
visitor  flies  from  its  poverty,  but  that  poverty  is 
the  fault  of  the  government  and  of  the  popula- 
tion.” 

And  this  recalled  the  observations  of  the  Japa- 
nese major  whom  I had  met  in  Guatemala. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 

T T is  more  pleasant  to  describe  the  oasis  than 
A the  desert,  and  more  to  the  taste  of  any  right- 
minded  author  to  write  of  happiness  and  progress 
than  of  miseiy  and  retrogression.  In  every  allu- 
sion to  general  conditions  I have  made  an  excep- 
tion of  Costa  Rica,  in  which  a grateful  traveler, 
buffeted  on  Central  American  trails,  found  a 
charm  that  torrential  rains  could  not  efface. 

Land  on  the  Costa  Rican  side  of  the  San  Juan 
River  is  worth  from  four  to  five  times  as  much 
as  land  of  equal  fertility  on  the  Nicaraguan  side. 
Costa  Rica  is  the  one  country,  from  the  Mexican 
to  the  Chilean  borders,  with  a comparatively  free 
press  and  free  speech  from  the  members  of  the 
opposition  in  Congress ; the  one  country  to  which 
the  Canal  Zone  doctors  freely  send  convalescents 
for  recuperation,  and  the  one  country  (except 
Mexico)  where  you  travel  without  a passport  or 
official  permission  to  enter  and  leave.  This  little 
republic,  hidden  in  prejudicial  surroundings,  is 
an  ethnological  and  climatic  study  unique  in 
American  colonial  history. 

186 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 


187 


It  does  not  always  rain  in  Costa  Rica,  the  Costa 
Ricans  insist.  Why  did  not  I come  in  the  dry 
season?  they  kept  asking.  It  was  an  error  equal 
to  visiting  New  York  City  in  midsummer.  We 
dropped  anchor  off  Punta  Arenas  in  a down- 
pour which  had  all  the  aspects  of  being  a settled 
habit,  and  waited  for  the  officials,  who  appeared 
with  surprising  promptness.  The  captain  of  the 
port,  Senor  Ramagoza,  had  taken  a post- 
graduate course  in  the  States;  the  doctor  one  in 
Germany.  Both  spoke  English;  both  were  well 
dressed  and  neat,  and  had  been  shaved  within  the 
last  twenty-four  hours.  Senor  Ramagoza  said 
that  he  would  not  drink  anything,  as  he  was  not 
thirsty,  and  the  doctor  took  only  one  bottle  of 
Pilsener.  Both  had  definite  information  to  give 
in  answer  to  questions,  which  was  equally  sur- 
prising. It  Mas  all  disturbing.  Were  you  in 
Central  America?  Had  the  skipper  missed  his 
reckoning? 

“It  has  been  raining  for  eleven  days,”  said 
Senor  Ramagoza.  “There  is  a M^ashout  along  the 
line,  and  the  time  tables  are  very  unsettled.  But 
if  you  are  in  a hurry  your  best  plan  is  to  go  as  far 
as  you  can  and  take  your  chances  over  the  broken 
sections;”  and  not  only  his  candor,  but  something 
about  his  personality  inclined  me  to  the  belief  that 
he  MTas  not  talking  to  prove  the  fluency  of  his 
tongue  and  the  resourcefulness  of  his  imagina- 
tion. 


188 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  office  building  which  he  occupied  was  neat 
and  clean  and  freshly  painted.  He  was  as  de- 
lighted as  any  Central  American  official  to  show 
a stranger  the  town,  and  our  first  visit  was  to  a 
money  changer’s,  where  I got  two  Costa  Rican 
dollars  for  one  American  dollar. 

“How  much  does  the  rate  vary?”  I inquired. 

“Not  at  all,”  he  said.  “It  is  on  a gold  basis. 
If  any  one  tries  to  scale  a cent  on  the  dollar,  re- 
fuse to  allow  it.” 

But  already  one  had  felt  in  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  the  community  a change  from  that  of 
other  parts.  It  was  something  in  the  manner  of 
the  people  you  passed  in  the  streets,  in  the  well- 
stocked  stores,  which  spelled  individual  freedom 
and  ambition. 

We  stopped  in  at  the  little  club,  which  had  a 
billiard  room  and  library  and  a veranda  looking 
out  on  the  swollen  river.  Across  the  wray  was  a 
church,  not  in  decay,  but  recently  built — a new 
church  in  Central  America,  which  is  covered  with 
the  ruins  of  the  old!  Could  I see  the  school? 
Surely  that  question  would  find  the  wreak  spot  in 
Senor  Ramagoza’s  armor,  which  would  prove  that 
this  place  was  Central  American,  after  all. 

Punta  Arenas  vras  a small  town  in  the  coast 
country,  he  explained,  and  I must  not  expect  too 
much.  But  when  we  came  to  the  building  which 
housed  the  grammer  grade  and  saw  the  pupils, 
with  a larger  percentage  of  aboriginal  extraction, 


A Costa  Rican  school  (showing  the  predominance  of  white  blood) 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 


189 


some  quite  black,  than  in  the  highlands,  and 
talked  with  the  teacher,  who  called  to  mind,  in 
turn,  that  it  was  only  a small  coast  town,  one  felt 
in  the  presence  of  more  reality  in  the  way  of 
education  than  he  had  seen  in  Guatemala  City. 

After  I decided  on  the  afternoon  train  and 
the  “chances,”  Sehor  Ramagoza  told  me  that  I 
would  have  company.  One  of  the  Peraltas,  Don 
Carlos,  was  going  up-country,  too;  and  when  I 
was  introduced  to  a merry-eyed  man  with  a pair 
of  saddle-bags  crowded  under  his  feet,  Don 
Carlos  Peralta  said : 

“I’ve  been  in  America  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  I was  in  the  football  team.”  If 
I would  look  at  the  pictures  in  the  papers  back 
in  the  nineties  I would  see  him  without  his  mus- 
tache, and,  yes,  looking  quite  a little  younger. 
“Adios!”  to  Sehor  Ramagoza,  and  the  train 
pulled  out. 

Suddenly  I had  the  feeling  of  one  who  has  left 
the  car  without  paying  his  fare.  Yet  I had  given 
my  ticket  to  the  conductor.  Yes,  of  course!  Now 
I remembered  what  was  missing. 

“Isn’t  any  policeman  going  to  take  my  name, 
destination,  occupation  and  object  of  travel?”  I 
inquired. 

“No,”  said  Don  Carlos.  “We  haven’t  any  time 
for  rubbish  like  that.  This  is  a free  country.” 

The  rain  continued.  It  formed  a mist  like  a 
stage  net  between  the  eye  and  the  dripping 


190 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


foliage,  and  a number  of  times  the  locomotive 
slowed  down  as  we  gingerly  passed  over  sections 
under  water  before  we  rose  into  the  foothills,  and 
the  call  of  “All  out!”  brought  the  passengers  to 
a high  bank  of  seeping  earth  looking  across  the 
Barranca  River,  which  had  swept  away  the  bridge 
and  its  abutments.  A trolley  on  a wire  spanned 
the  abyss,  in  the  fashion  of  the  early  days  of  rail- 
roading in  the  West. 

It  was  dark  and  still  raining  when  we  alighted 
at  Esparta  from  the  train  which  started  from 
the  other  side.  Don  Carlos  played  pathfinder 
past  an  orange  garden  to  a hotel.  Between  Es- 
parta and  San  Domingo  the  railroad  had  not  yet 
been  finished,  and  this  break  was  ordinarily  cov- 
ered on  muleback,  in  keeping  with  a schedule 
which  enabled  one  leaving  Punta  Arenas  in  the 
afternoon  to  reach  San  Jose,  the  capital,  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  second  day.  Word  came  that 
a further  washout  between  San  Domingo  and 
Atenas  seemed  imminent.  It  was  quite  the  worst 
storm  that  Costa  Rica  had  known  in  the  memory 
of  the  oldest  inhabitant.  Landslides  covered  the 
highway  in  places,  we  were  told,  and  in  others 
the  bridges  were  gone.  All  owners  were  chary  of 
letting  out  their  mules  till  the  deluge  stopped 
and  it  was  certain  that  the  worst  wTas  over. 

Why  hurry?  Wasn’t  the  hotel  at  Esparta 
good?  inquired  one  traveler,  who  said  that  noth- 
ing should  move  him  till  there  had  been  two  or 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 


191 


three  clear  days.  Yes,  the  hotel  was  excellent, 
better  in  fare  and  cleanliness  than  that  extrava- 
gant place  at  Managua.  If  you  wanted  a lime- 
ade the  maid  picked  up  one  of  a hundred  limes 
scattered  in  the  yard  with  which  to  make  it;  and 
if  you  wanted  an  orange  you  took  it  from  a 
tree,  whose  limb  was  crowding  in  at  the  dining- 
room door. 

But  Don  Carlos  was  for  action.  He  said  that 
an  American  and  a Costa  Rican  were  going  to  the 
capital  right  away.  He  was  the  ambassador  to 
the  muleteers,  who,  when  morning  revealed  the 
sky  in  the  same  shamelessly  prodigal  state  of 
mind,  went  back  on  their  promise  of  the  previous 
evening.  While  he,  in  blazing  indignation,  set 
out  to  find  men  of  a more  daring  nature,  I waited 
in  the  hotel  and  listened  to  an  Italian  soapmaker 
of  San  Jose  marooned  with  his  family,  talk  of 
immediate  advance,  which  his  wife,  inclined  to 
stoutness,  did  not  altogether  favor.  Once  she  put 
in  a word,  and  it  was:  “My  dear,  a few  hours 

more  or  less  will  not  change  the  fortunes  of  a 
family.” 

When  we  started,  under  the  show  er-bath,  there 
were  in  our  party  Don  Carlos,  a Colombian,  a 
Nicaraguan — both  of  wrhom  were  in  the  cattle 
business — the  author  and  the  author’s  trunk 
aboard  a superannuated  mule,  which  the  muleteer 
wras  willing  to  let  go  in  that  weather  for  the  price 
of  its  carcass.  What  a ride,  with  the  cobbles  of 


192 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


the  road  under  water  or  a strata  of  mud!  After 
a time  we  left  the  trunk  to  the  mozo  in  charge. 
By  the  honor  of  Costa  Rica,  they  would  do  their 
best;  but  a trunk  was  not  meant  to  be  packed  on 
the  back  of  a mule.  My  own  mount,  surveying 
the  situation,  as  he  saw  it  growing  worse,  lost 
hope. 

“He’s  done.  But  it’s  all  right,”  said  Don 
Carlos,  who  had  not  had  a dry  stitch  on  him  for 
twenty-four  hours.  “I  have  a friend  right  over 
the  hill,  where  we  can  get  another.” 

Don  Carlos’  word  was  enough  to  the  employees 
of  the  hacienda.  They  rode  out  and  lassoed  from 
the  rich  pastures  reeking  with  moisture  a sturdy, 
resentful  burden-bearer,  who  was  most  amiable 
once  he  was  captured. 

The  Colombian — and  he  was  a blade  of  pure 
Spanish  blood — fell  behind  for  some  reason  which 
I now  forget,  and  when  he  came  up  with  us  he 
declared  himself  a gallant.  That  good  wife  of 
the  oratorical  soapmaker  had  gone  fairly  over  the 
head  of  her  mule  into  a stream. 

“And  it  was  I,”  quoth  the  Colombian — “I,  gen- 
tlemen, who  assisted  her  to  remount,  while  her 
husband  was  eloquent  in  two  languages.” 

He  was  in  Costa  Rica,  I was  told,  because  his 
family’s  fortune  had  been  confiscated  by  the  party 
in  power  in  his  country,  and  he  was  bound  to 
win  some  of  it  back,  one  way  or  another,  in  the 
Spanish-speaking  countries.  He  also  had  news 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 


193 


of  the  trunk,  which,  with  mule  and  mozo,  had 
fallen  in  a gorge.  He  had  gone  to  the  rescue, 
and  it  was  now  under  cover  in  a farmer’s  cottage. 
What  next? 

“Back  to  the  trunk!”  said  Don  Carlos. 

A cousin  of  his  lived  near.  Another  mule  and 
a fresh  mozo  were  forthcoming. 

“Who  is  Don  Carlos?”  I inquired  of  the  Colom- 
bian. 

“He  is  one  of  the  Peraltas,”  was  the  answer. 
Pressure  for  more  detail  brought  the  informa- 
tion that  the  first  Peralta,  a Spanish  marquis,  and 
his  wife,  had  come  over  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  since  then  the  Peraltas  had  increased  in  num- 
bers amazingly. 

We  rode  on  till  we  came  into  San  Domingo 
and  dismounted  at  a hotel  kept  by  a Frenchman, 
who  told  us  that  the  washout  between  there  and 
Atenas  had  passed  from  the  domain  of  prophecy 
to  that  of  fact.  After  supper  the  Colombian 
played  the  guitar  and  sang  Spanish  songs  to 
cheer  up  the  Italian’s  good  wife,  who  came  in 
very  late  and  was  the  object  of  solicitous  care  in 
order  that  she  might  have  dry  clothes.  “So  sorry 
I could  not  lend  her  some  of  mine,”  said  the  help- 
ful Colombian. 

Finally  the  trunk  came.  The  new  mozo  had 
covered  it  carefully  with  oilcloth,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing moisture  still  clung  to  the  inside,  paint- 
ing everything  a streaky  red,  and  along  the  rail 


194 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


of  the  veranda,  exposed  to  the  sun  for  the  first 
time  in  many  days,  the  next  morning,  was  an  as- 
sortment of  fundamentals  and  of  the  frock  coat 
and  other  ornaments,  which  some  simier  in  Wash- 
ington had  said  would  be  particularly  necessary 
if  you  would  show  respect  to  a Central  American 
President,  with  a saturated  silk  hat  resting  on  a 
chair. 

“Discretion  now  seems  the  better  part  of 
valor,”  said  Don  Carlos,  after  he  had  heard  nu- 
merous reports.  “We  can’t  possibly  reach  San 
Jose  before  to-morrow  night,  anyway;”  and  this 
was  agreeable  enough,  considering  wet  papers, 
notebooks,  and  what-not  that  ought  to  be  dried. 

The  deluge,  as  I learned  afterward,  would  cost 
the  government  $1,000,000  for  repairs,  a misfor- 
tune in  that  little  country  equivalent  to  two  or 
three  hundred  millions  to  us.  Nor  was  it  good 
news  to  the  American  contractor  who  had  agreed 
to  fill  in  the  break  between  Esparta  and  San  Do- 
mingo inside  of  ten  months.  When  this  was  done, 
the  line  from  sea  to  sea  would  be  complete,  and 
you  might  go  from  Punta  Arenas  on  the  Pacific 
to  Puerto  Limon  on  the  Atlantic  side  in  a day. 

The  next  morning  opened  doubtfully,  with  a 
mist  which  might  turn  to  rain,  but  which  the  sun 
soon  dissipated.  The  people  were  busy  at  their 
day’s  work  as  we  rode  by.  Even  the  laborers 
were  white  or  with  the  Indian  admixture  so  slight 
as  to  be  almost  imperceptible.  Some  were  fair- 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE 


195 


haired,  inheritors  of  the  Gothic  strain  from  north- 
ern Spain.  For  the  first  time  in  the  tropics  I 
saw  a temperate  zone  race  doing  the  work  of 
peasantry. 

Our  problem  was  to  get  around  the  great  land- 
slides and  the  streams  which  had  carried  away 
the  bridges.  Don  Carlos,  the  indefatigable  path- 
finder, machete  in  hand,  recalled  the  spirit  of  the 
little  bands  of  conquistadores  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, who  traversed  the  virgin  jungle  in  the  face 
of  hostile  tribes.  Our  pioneer  party  gaining  num- 
bers as  it  proceeded,  included  a friar,  to  fill  out 
the  picture.  He  was  a full-bearded,  pink-cheeked, 
brown-haired  Dominican,  a pair  of  riding-boots 
showing  their  tips  under  his  cassock. 

When  we  came  to  a literal  reservoir  of  mud  and 
debris  from  the  hillside,  either  he  developed  sud- 
den temerity  or  was  absent-minded,  for  he  rode 
straight  past  the  rest  of  us  into  the  mess.  His 
mule  floundered  up  to  the  belly.  His  boot- 
tips  rose  fairly  to  a level  with  the  mule’s  ears, 
and  the  Church  turned  beseechingly  to  the  lay- 
men. Don  Carlos  waded  in  with  reassuring  words 
and  managed  the  rescue  with  rare  skill. 

“Senor,  I will  follow  you  after  this,”  said  the 
Dominican.  “It  was  not  my  ardor  so  much  as 
my  lack  of  worldly  experience  which  got  me  into 
the  difficulty.  ” 

“Now,  right  over  the  top  of  the  divide,”  de- 


196 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


cided  Don  Carlos.  “It  is  a rough  climb,  but  we 
are  sure  of  not  having  to  swim  any  torrents.” 

So  we  wound  our  way  over  slippery  rocks  and 
tree  roots,  up  the  slopes  of  Mount  Aguacate. 
From  an  open  space  three-quarters  of  the  way  to 
the  summit  we  saw  the  Pacific,  a streak  of  twin- 
kling silver  at  the  edge  of  a rolling  carpet  of 
foliage.  That  was  worth  all  the  pains,  and  the 
climbing  itself  was  glorious  in  the  inspiriting  air, 
easier  for  man  than  beast,  with  Don  Carlos  in- 
sistent that  everybody  should  remain  mounted 
except  himself. 

Our  Colombian  hummed  Spanish  airs;  our 
Nicaraguan,  a ladino,  who  had  made  a sale  of 
cattle  to  Don  Carlos,  and  a pronounced  Zelayista, 
was  a talkative  pessimist  who  never  got  off  his 
mule.  He  had  not  played  fair  to  Don  Carlos, 
according  to  the  Colombian.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
he  poured  out  his  criticism  of  our  choice  of  route 
and  everything  in  general. 

“They  have  lots  of  money  in  Costa  Rica,  but 
no  great  men,  sir,  like  Zelaya,”  he  said.  “For 
sixteen  years  Zelaya  has  kept  his  power.  Let  an 
enemy  raise  a hand  or  speak  a word,  and  Zelaya 
sees,  Zelaya  hears,  and  there’s  an  end  of  the  fel- 
low. That  President  of  Costa  Rica  is  of  no  ac- 
count. He  has  not  the  courage  to  put  a banker 
in  jail  or  shoot  a rival.  You  will  see,  he  cannot 
even  re-elect  himself.  Fifty  other  men  are  just 
as  smart  as  he.  Any  one  of  them  might  be  Presi- 


The  cultivated  country  of  the  beautiful  valley  of  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica 


HOW  WE  WENT  TO  SAN  JOSE  197 

dent.  Costa  Rica  has  never  had  a great  man,  but 
our  Zelaya  is  a lion.” 

When  I smiled,  he  asked  me  if  I did  not  admire 
great  men.  He  was  quite  unconscious  of  draw- 
ing any  satirical  picture  of  republican  govern- 
ment. When,  later,  an  opportunity  came  to  tax 
Don  Carlos  with  Costa  Rica’s  inferiority,  he  an- 
swered : 

“No,  sir.  We  aren’t  going  to  have  any  dic- 
tators in  our  country.  Why,  we  have  plenty  of 
men  who  are  smart  enough  to  be  President.  Some 
of  them  are  too  smart.  Now,  if  any  Costa  Rican 
President  got  what  you  call  ‘fresh,’  all  the  plant- 
ers would  come  riding  into  San  Jose  when  they 
had  the  coffee  crop  in,  and  say:  ‘That’s  enough 
of  this  dictator  business!’  We  have  done  just 
that  thing  in  Costa  Rica  before,  and  we  would 
do  it  again,  and  the  Presidents  know  it  and  it 
keeps  them  in  order.  But  we  have  not  had  a 
revolution  for  over  forty  years.  Revolutions  are 
bad  for  business.” 

Emerging  from  the  thick  forest  on  the  eastern 
side  of  Aguacate,  the  meaning  of  “no  revolu- 
tions” and  liberal  laws  was  illustrated  in  a 
glimpse  of  that  plain  of  San  Jose,  which  must 
have  thrilled  the  Spanish  settlers  as  the  first  sight 
of  Salt  Lake  thrilled  the  Mormon  host.  The 
buildings  of  the  capital  were  just  visible  in  a 
panorama  of  cultivated  land,  with  its  patchwork 
of  fields  set  among  groves.  It  might  have  been 


198 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


the  valley  of  the  Po,  in  Italy,  or  the  orchards  of 
California.  The  colors  of  the  tropics  and  the  tem- 
perate zone  were  blended. 

Now  we  came  to  a cobbled  highway,  pass- 
ing groups  of  well-kept  houses,  with  occa- 
sional stores  in  a small  town;  and  at  the 
first  hotel  Don  Carlos  said  that  we  should 
dine  and  celebrate.  There  must  be  wine.  Claret 
was  forthcoming  from  the  nearest  bodega , and 
the  bounty  of  that  meal  was  beyond  consumption. 
The  hostess  kept  bringing  more  dishes,  while  she 
apologized  for  her  poor,  mean  board.  We  toasted 
the  United  States,  Central  America,  the  coffee 
crop,  the  weather — and  finally  that  trunk,  which 
arrived  in  time  to  go  with  its  owner  on  the  eve- 
ning train  to  San  Jose. 


CHAPTER  NINETEEN 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 

O IXT  Y per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Costa 
^ Rica,  probably  80  in  the  highlands,  is  pure 
Caucasian,  or  of  preponderantly  Caucasian 
strain.  The  negroes  on  the  banana  plantations 
in  the  lowlands  are  mostly  foreign  subjects  from 
the  West  Indian  Islands,  who  have  no  voice  in 
a government  centering  in  an  oligarchy  of  plant- 
ers. After  three  centuries  of  intermarrying 
among  the  descendants  of  the  leading  colonists, 
it  is  said  that  any  member  of  forty  old  families, 
which  is  not  a particularly  exclusive  official  circle 
in  a land  with  only  350,000  people,  can  count  on 
the  President  being  at  least  a distant  blood  rela- 
tive. 

Costa  Rica  lacks  the  distinction  of  making  his- 
tory, which  in  Central  America  has  consisted  of 
wars  and  revolutions.  She  has  been  an  eddy  out 
of  the  main  current  of  raids  and  intrigue.  The 
first  imprint  of  character  from  the  early  Spanish 
rulers  still  remains  indelible  in  every  one  of  the 
five  provinces  of  the  old  kingdom  of  Guatemala, 

199 


200 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


and  Costa  Rica  was  the  exception  where  destiny 
was  kind. 

The  first  explorers  found  few  natives  on  the 
isolated  plateau  surrounded  by  natural  defenses. 
Small  bodies  of  settlers  with  their  wives  came  in- 
stead of  the  conquist adores  and  the  haciendados 
who  sought  vast  grants  of  land  and  large  groups 
of  Indians  as  servile  laborers.  Thus  a social 
order  different  from  any  in  Central  America  was 
established,  in  a large  measure  self-governing, 
under  the  Spanish  captains-general,  even  in 
a region  which  was  not  a highway  for  the  carga- 
dores  bringing  treasure  from  Peru  or  the  Philip- 
pines, the  object  of  raids  like  Nicaragua,  or  in- 
fluenced by  the  corruption  and  greed  growing 
out  of  the  peonage  system. 

When  Costa  Rica  withdrew  from  the  Central 
American  Federation  it  was  in  order  to  escape 
the  effects  of  the  war  between  Morazan  and 
Carrera.  In  1842  Morazan,  the  deposed  Chief 
of  State  of  the  Central  American  Federation, 
landing  on  Costa  Rican  soil  with  an  army  which 
he  had  recruited  after  his  expulsion  from  Guate- 
mala, for  a time  wielded  the  authority  which  he 
still  claimed  over  all  the  States  of  the  union.  But 
the  planters  soon  rose  against  him.  They  cap- 
tured him  and  Villasenor,  a Costa  Rican  general, 
who  had  been  his  supporter.  The  Spartan  sen- 
timent of  the  extremists  prevailed,  as  it  has  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  and  the  prisoners  were 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 


201 


publicly  executed.  F rom  that  day  to  this,  Costa 
Rica’s  independence  of  her  neighbors  has  been 
secure. 

“On  account  of  her  small  population  and  dis- 
tance from  the  central  government,”  says  An- 
tonio Marure,  the  Guatemalan  historian  of  the 
federation,  “Costa  Rica  had  but  little  influence 
in  the  government  of  the  other  countries,  but  she 
distinguished  herself  for  her  moderation  and  pru- 
dence throughout  all  their  troublous  times.”  And 
Bancroft  says:  “The  other  States  were  impover- 
ished and  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin,  whereas 
Costa  Rica,  with  comparative  tranquillity,  was 
constantly  marching  forward.” 

Freedom  of  the  press  and  religion  was  main- 
tained throughout  the  period  of  union.  When 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities  desired  a decree  burn- 
ing certain  forbidden  books  in  1830,  Juan  Mora, 
then  Chief  of  State,  not  only  refused,  but  al- 
lowed more  of  the  forbidden  books  to  be  im- 
ported. Costa  Rica  has  never  suffered  from  the 
fanaticism  of  the  orders  and  the  ecclesiastical 
domination  which  prevailed  elsewhere ; but,  on  the 
contrary,  she  has  never  confiscated  Church  prop- 
erty or  made  war  on  the  Church  as  such.  Her 
cities  were  then  as  they  are  to-day,  the  refuge  of 
political  exiles  from  the  other  States.  A French- 
man, Laferriere,  writing  of  this  little-known  re- 
gion thirty  years  ago  in  “De  Paris  a Guatemala,” 
says:  “The  Costa  Ricans  dislike  wasting  their 


202 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


resources  in  wars  or  war  material,  preferring  the 
arts  of  peace  and  to  welcome  those  bringing 
wealth  from  other  countries.” 

The  policy  and  character  of  the  old  social  order 
remain  unchanged.  Still  talking  of  union,  Costa 
Rica’s  instinct  is  as  naturally  for  isolation  as  that 
of  Switzerland.  She  has  never  been  an  aggressor 
against  her  neighbors.  But  if  Central  America 
is  assailed  her  response  is  immediate  as  a measure 
of  self-protection.  Without  her  assistance  Will- 
iam Walker,  the  filibuster,  would  not  have  been 
beaten  in  Nicaragua.  Her  little  army  adminis- 
tered the  decisive  defeat  to  his  forces  and  then 
marched  back  from  those  unpleasant  lowlands 
to  its  own  pleasant  highlands. 

Neighboring  dictators  have  learned  a whole- 
some respect  for  the  men  who  have  the  qualities 
of  the  farmer  and  the  planter,  which  the  Boers 
exemplified.  At  a signal  of  danger  they  will,  as 
Don  Carlos  Peralta  said,  come  riding  in  from  all 
directions,  rifle  in  hand,  confident  of  their  ability 
to  defeat  any  tatterdemalion  lot  of  conscripts  from 
the  other  republics.  They  have  suffered  Presi- 
dents who  grew  autocratic  and  who  won  office  by 
chicanery  and  ballot-box  stuffing.  But  every 
President  has  a check.  He  knows  that  he  may 
look  out  of  the  window  one  morning  to  see  men 
on  horseback  streaming  into  town.  So  public 
opinion  exists  and  lias  an  effect. 

Clannishness  makes  the  Costa  Ricans  love  com- 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 


203 


pany.  Their  fraternal  feeling,  which  is  the 
growth  of  time,  leads  to  the  greeting  of  “brother” 
as  men  pass,  and  other  Central  Americans  have 
nicknamed  them  the  brotherly  people.  While 
outlying  regions  wait  on  development,  the  popu- 
lation centers  around  San  Jose,  the  new,  and 
Cartago,  the  old,  capital.  San  Jose  is  one-third 
the  size  of  Guatemala  City,  and  its  first  dis- 
tinction to  the  approaching  visitor  is  an  electric 
car  line,  when  he  has  seen  none  since  leaving  the 
City  of  Mexico. 

The  streets  are  scrupulously  clean  and  well 
paved.  Sanitation  is  the  hobby  of  the  President, 
Gonzalez  Vigez,  whom  the  weekly  Life — for  San 
Jose  includes  in  its  free  press  a humorous  weekly 
— always  pictures  with  a mosquito  on  the  top  of 
his  bald  head;  and  one  of  the  local  newspapers 
is  of  the  opinion  that  he  is  otherwise  the  head  of 
a perfectly  incapable  administration,  and  tells 
him  so  daily. 

No  city  of  its  size  at  home — and  none  is,  of 
course,  a capital — has  so  many  attractive  shops. 
That  rich  coffee  land  is  prodigal,  creating  an  ex- 
travagant people.  If  this  year’s  crop  is  bad,  why 
not  live  while  you  live?  and  no  doubt  next  year’s 
crop  will  be  good.  Senora  and  senorita  must  have 
Parisian  hats  for  the  church  parade,  and  beautiful 
gowns  for  the  opera.  Imported  dainties  for  the 
palate  reappear  in  the  store  windows  after  being 
absent  since  leaving  the  City  of  Mexico.  Costa 


204 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Rica  spends  so  freely  that  her  foreign  trade 
amounts  to  five  times  the  average  per  capita  of 
the  other  Central  American  countries.  Ten  mil- 
lion people  of  the  Costa  Rican  type  in  Central 
America  would  soon  change  our  attitude  of  dis- 
interestedness. Then  there  would  be  a commer- 
cial prize  on  our  borders  worth  having. 

The  lighthearted  Costa  Rican  is  proudest  of 
the  beauty  of  his  women  and  his  opera  house. 
What  would  be  the  use  of  the  opera  house  if  it 
wrere  not  for  the  beautiful  women?  as  Don  Carlos 
well  said.  Some  of  them  are  fair-haired  and  have 
blue  eyes,  a distinction  worth  a dowry  to  any 
San  Jose  girl.  They  are  devoted  to  religion,  and 
their  influence  sways  fathers,  husbands  and  sons. 
Though  freedom  of  worship  is  guaranteed,  Costa 
Rica  recognizes  the  Church  by  an  annual  grant, 
and  every  Sunday  morning  the  well-uniformed, 
European-appearing  garrison  marches  to  the 
cathedral,  which  is  the  only  one  I saw  in  Central 
America  that  was  in  repair. 

That  crowning  piece  of  Costa  Rican  extrava- 
gance, the  National  Opera  House,  which  cost  a 
million  dollars  in  this  town  of  20,000  people,  is 
a tribute  to  their  cultivated  taste.  We  had  not 
its  equal  in  New  York  in  architectural  preten- 
sion until  the  N ew  Theater  was  built,  and  on  the 
American  continent  it  is  surpassed  only  by  the 
national  theaters  in  Mexico,  Rio  de  Janeiro  and 
Buenos  Aires.  The  marble  for  its  staircase  came 


A wedding  party  in  San  Jos6,  Costa  Rica 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 


205 


from  Italy;  artists  were  brought  from  abroad  to 
paint  the  scenes  of  coffee  and  banana  culture 
which  should  express  the  source  of  Costa  Rican 
wealth.  And  the  love  of  music  is  no  affectation. 
It  is  a serious  matter,  with  predilection  for  the 
Italian  and  French  classics  and  for  rigid  observ- 
ance of  stage  conventions,  and  a discriminating 
exhibition  of  pleasure  or  displeasure  over  the  per- 
formers’ work. 

The  Gringo’s  provincial  preconceptions  are 
overwhelmed  by  the  scene  and  the  setting  in  a 
nook  of  the  Cordilleras.  Looking  down  on  the 
promenade  of  the  dark-eyed  women,  who  are  in 
the  majority,  and  the  lucky  blue-eyed  ones,  or 
meeting  the  men  in  the  buffet,  it  -was  easy  to 
imagine  that  you  were  in  Europe.  At  the  buffet 
I met  a young  Costa  Rican  who  had  just  been 
graduated  from  Yale.  He  said  that  he  really 
wanted  to  marry  an  American  girl  and  settle 
down  in  the  States,  but  these  Costa  Rican  girls 
were  so  charming  that  he  was  in  danger,  and  once 
he  fell  in  love  he  would  have  to  remain  forever, 
as  Costa  Rican  women  never  liked  to  leave  their 
native  country. 

But  many  Americans  whom  business  brought 
to  San  Jose  have  married  there,  and,  despite  the 
young  man’s  view,  the  husbands  have  returned  to 
Gringoland,  and  with  their  wives.  He  thought 
the  American  girls  were  more  independent — it 
is  remarkable  how  expert  a Yale  curriculum  had 


206 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


made  him — and  the  Costa  Rican  girls  fonder  of 
home.  But  the  author  judged  Costa  Rican  girls 
to  be  fairly  independent  from  the  freedom  with 
which  they  came  and  went  in  the  evening,  an  in- 
vasion of  Spanish  custom  which  may  be  due  to 
American  example.  Nor  is  the  men’s  fondness 
for  exercise  characteristically  Spanish.  It  is  an 
illuminating  fact  that  the  whites  of  Costa  Rica 
and  the  pure-blooded  Indians  of  the  highlands  of 
Guatemala,  both  wholly  disinclined  to  war,  with 
its  inferential  development  of  virility,  are  physic- 
ally the  finest  inhabitants  of  Central  America 
and,  from  all  I could  learn,  the  most  moral. 

San  Jose  boasts  its  polo  teams,  its  football 
eleven  and  baseball  nines.  Nothing  which  be- 
longs to  a great  world  capital  seems  wanting,  at 
least  in  miniature.  There  is  a national  fondness 
for  beautiful  parks  and  impressive  public  build- 
ings. Though  the  Costa  Ricans  took  relatively 
little  interest  in  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  it  was 
considered  a national  honor  to  have  the  court  of 
peace  sit  in  the  one  country  which  had  been 
peaceful,  and  when  Mr.  Carnegie  gave  the  money 
to  build  a palace  for  housing  the  judges  at  Car- 
tago  the  attitude  changed  to  positive  enthusiasm. 
A national  library  is  building;  an  enormous  peni- 
tentiary stands  outside  the  town  as  an  example 
of  architectural  pride.  Future  generations  may 
grow  up  to  it.  At  present  the  guests  are  as  lonely 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 


207 


as  the  scattered  few  in  a summer  hotel  just  before 
the  autumn  closing  time. 

The  insane  asylum,  set  in  a garden  of  palms 
and  flowers,  might  be  mistaken  for  the  suburban 
residence  of  some  multimillionaire.  But  I should 
not  call  it  an  insane  asylum.  This  is  against  the 
rules  of  modern  science,  as  I was  reminded  by 
the  director,  educated  in  Germany,  who  showed 
me  through  a hospital  modern  in  every  respect. 
Whatever  public  institution  I visited  the  impres- 
sion was  the  same.  The  national  museum  was 
not  a travesty,  the  art  school  had  a score  of  busy 
pupils,  boys  and  girls,  and  the  high  school  and 
the  girls’  seminary  lose  little  by  any  foreign  com- 
parison. 

While  on  the  severely  practical  side,  the  pub- 
lic abattoir,  well  ordered  in  keeping  with  what 
doctors  trained  abroad  had  concluded  was  the 
best  precedent,  would  not  have  been  complete 
without  an  ornamental  front  to  soften  the  thought 
of  the  butchery  within  to  passersby.  And  that 
new  department  store  kept  by  a German!  It 
opens  up  a world  of  gossip  about  bargains  and 
is  a drain  on  many  a coffee  estate.  But  no  Costa 
Rican  woman,  you  may  be  sure,  will  ever  allow 
any  bargain  to  permit  the  sale  of  a rood  of  the 
family  coffee  land.  Issue  debentures,  yes;  but 
sell,  never!  From  generation  to  generation  the 
land  is  held,  and  its  value,  close  to  San  Jose, 
would  astound  a Western  farmer  who  owns  a 


208 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


valuable  wheat  farm.  That  coffee  plant  is  capri- 
cious. It  grows  better  nowhere  in  the  world  than 
here. 

After  all  my  ineffectual  efforts  to  find  out 
about  exports  and  imports  in  the  other  countries, 
what  a pleasure  it  was  to  be  referred  to  a bureau 
which  filled  your  pockets  and  arms  with  statistical 
information  and  your  mind  with  confidence  that 
the  information  was  at  least  approximately  cor- 
rect. The  Spanish- American  custom  of  no  land 
tax  still  prevails.  Costa  Rica  is  a country  of  land- 
owners,  large  and  small,  and  if  one  wants  to 
borrow  money,  instead  of  laying  a mortgage  he 
can  issue  debentures  on  his  property.  Titles  are 
clear  and  the  books  open  to  all  to  see  whatever 
loan  stands  against  any  holding.  Taxes  are 
chiefly  on  imports  and  by  weight,  but  under  a 
more  reasonable  scale  than  elsewhere. 

But  there  is  a fly  in  the  amber.  Proud  little 
Costa  Rica,  so  scrupulous  about  her  national 
honor,  has  been  defaulting  the  interest  on  her 
national  debt  for  many  years.  She  loved  those 
handsome  buildings,  and  paying  for  dead  horses 
was  most  trying.  However,  be  it  said  to  her 
credit,  her  citizens  were  always  apologizing  for 
the  fact,  which  represented  at  least  a palliating 
stage  of  self-consciousness;  and,  at  last  accounts, 
arrangements  were  under  way  to  settle  with  her 
creditors  and  begin  a new  career. 

Possibly,  the  United  Fruit  Company  being 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA  209 

foreign  and  the  debt  being  also  in  foreign  hands 
led  to  a public  view  that  any  money  owed  to  the 
foreigner  was  offset  by  the  wealth  that  the  com- 
pany had  taken  out  of  Costa  Rica.  It  owns  a 
major  portion  of  the  good  banana  lands,  which 
are  said  to  be  the  best  in  the  world. 

At  all  events,  Minor  C.  Keith  came  to  Costa 
Rica  a poor  boy,  but  with  the  capital  of  American 
energy  and  commercial  foresight.  “How  that 
man  worked!”  as  Don  Carlos  said.  “He  is  a real 
modern  conquistador.  Worked  with  his  own 
hands,  too,  showing  how  to  make  clearings!” 
Minor  married  one  of  the  beautiful  Costa  Rican 
girls,  and  so  did  his  relative,  John  C.,  who  loves 
his  Costa  Rica  too  well  to  go.  With  a gift  of 
winning  the  Costa  Rican  Congress  to  his  proj- 
ects, Minor  became  a millionaire  through  the 
F ruit  Company’s  concessions  and  developing 
trade.  Now  he  leaves  the  property  to  other 
managers,  alert,  quick  corporation  men  in  the 
Fruit  Company’s  office,  which  has  the  atmos- 
phere of  a New  York  skyscraper  in  this  halcyon 
dolce  far  niente  city  of  the  valley  of  San  Jose, 
and  departs  to  build  a railway  across  Guatemala, 
where  the  conditions  of  prosperity  so  helpful  in 
Costa  Rica  are,  as  yet,  wanting. 

Among  the  F ruit  Company’s  possessions  is  the 
railway  from  San  Jose  to  Puerto  Limon.  Its 
cleverly  devised  charter  allowed  the  government 
to  name  the  passenger  tariff  and  left  the  freight 


210 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


tariff  to  the  will  of  the  concessionaire.  The  plant- 
ers realized  their  error  too  late. 

It  is  hardly  surprising  that  the  government 
built  the  line  to  the  Pacific  itself,  while  the  na- 
tional debt  had  to  wait,  and  that  the  feeling  is 
strong  in  some  quarters  against  the  Gringos; 
while  the  truth  is  that  the  company  has  been  of 
great  service  in  developing  a market  at  the  same 
time  that  it  has  exploited  the  country  in  its  own 
interests.  It  supplies  the  young  abogados  in 
Congress  with  opportunities  for  oratory.  Listen 
to  one  in  criticism  of  an  administration  measure 
said  to  favor  the  trust : 

“Our  moral  depression  is  such  that  we  cannot 
overcome  the  invasion  of  the  American  multi- 
millionaires who  trade  their  fortunes  for  Euro- 
pean coronets.  Their  daughters  escape  from  their 
unhappy  consorts  by  divorce,  but  we  Costa 
Ricans  cannot  make  laws  to  free  us,  in  turn,  from 
the  abominable  concubinage  of  the  Yankee  ele- 
ment, which  treats  us  as  if  we  were  a degenerate 
race.” 

“Just  fool  talk  to  get  in  the  newspapers,”  ex- 
plained the  Costa  Rican  who  was  at  my  side  in 
the  gallery.  The  other  extreme  of  opinion  may 
be  found  in  some  quarters,  which  would  really 
welcome  such  relations  with  the  United  States  as 
would  give  their  products  the  same  chance  as 
those  of  Porto  Rico  in  our  great  market. 

This  Congress  was  varied  and  human,  a re- 


A football  team  in  happy  little  Costa  Rica 


HAPPY  LITTLE  COSTA  RICA 


211 


minder  of  home,  giving  the  visitor  the  pleasure 
of  listening  to  much  eloquent  Spanish.  It  had 
its  firebrands  of  the  order  of  the  young  author  of 
the  divorce  simile;  its  trust  subordinates;  its  old- 
fashioned  Conservatives,  who  think  that  the  coun- 
try is  going  to  the  dogs  under  a Liberal  regime ; 
its  scholarly  fellows,  proud  of  their  Castilian; 
and  the  simple  planter  members,  who  are  con- 
fused and  inert  unless  something  affecting  the 
coffee  and  land  interests  is  at  stake,  when  they 
proceed  to  vote  and  act. 

Each  bypath  of  observation  brought  one  back 
to  the  men  of  the  fincas.  The  soil  is  in  the  hands  of 
many  owners.  Your  humblest  peasant  holds  fast 
to  his  acres.  Extreme  poverty  is  unknown  in  a 
rich  agricultural  country,  and  there  is  not  the 
excuse  for  idleness  which  has  become  a habit  in 
other  States  that  are  devastated  by  rebellion  and 
oppression.  If  you  would  know  how  well  the 
people  live  go  to  the  prodigal,  tropical  market- 
place on  Saturday  morning,  which  is  as  much  a 
function  with  senora  as  the  opera.  There  may 
be  revolutions  in  time  to  come,  but  the  self- 
interest  of  the  planters  forms  a basis  of  stability 
which  makes  constitutional  government  inherent ; 
while  in  the  benevolent  autocracy  of  Mexico  it  is, 
as  yet,  only  a form. 

The  writer  confesses,  indeed,  that  he  fell  under 
the  charm  of  Costa  Rica.  It  is  Spain  in  the  New 
World,  Spain  prosperous  as  well  as  generous, 


212 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


where  „o  say  my  house  is  yours  is  not  altogether 
a figure  of  speech.  But  beware  of  admiring 
things  unless  you  expect  them  to  be  given  to  you. 
I spoke  of  buying  some  of  the  tiny  Costa  Rican 
gold  dollars  as  a present,  and  Don  Carlos  hurried 
away  and  returned  with  a half  dozen,  which  he  in- 
sisted on  giving  me. 

In  the  streets — and  they  are  lighted  and  not 
deserted  at  night,  as  they  are  largely  elsewhere  in 
Central  America — you  will  meet  many  foreign- 
ers, varying  in  character  from  the  refugee  who 
was  in  an  assassination  or  a revolutionary  plot 
against  some  Central  American  ruler  to  Canal 
employees  up  from  the  zone  for  a vacation  or  a 
trip  of  convalescence;  and  keeping  up  the  world- 
wide reputation  of  ruining  the  curio  market,  the 
Americans  are  responsible  for  the  increasing 
values  set  on  the  figures  of  solid  gold  which  the 
remaining  Indians  dig  up  from  the  graves  of 
their  ancestors.  “The  price  of  gods  has  riz,”  was 
the  sad  message  which  a steam-shovel  man  bore 
back  to  others  at  the  Isthmus  who  had  not  yet 
been  supplied. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY 


ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS 

rpHE  Costa  Rican  train,  which  has  the  luxury 
of  parlor  cars,  climbs  from  San  Jose  to 
Cartago,  the  classic  old  town  of  pure  Spanish 
descent,  and  passes  between  the  regular  rows  of 
clean,  aristocratic,  trimmed  coffee  trees,  with  their 
leaves  as  glossy  as  if  just  polished,  and  the 
ground  underneath  as  clean  as  if  it  had  just  been 
swept.  Coffee  is  the  patrician  and  the  banana 
the  plebeian  of  Central  America.  Their  export 
is  the  chief  source  of  income. 

It  was  a Spanish  priest  who  first  brought  the 
coffee  berry  from  Arabia  to  Guatemala,  and 
thence  it  has  spread  southward  to  the  Panaman 
border  and  northward  into  the  province  of 
Chiapas  in  Mexico,  a monarch  of  the  highland 
region,  growing  anywhere  from  an  altitude  of 
one  to  six  thousand  feet,  but  yielding  most 
abundantly  at  from  fifteen  hundred  to  three  thou- 
sand, and  in  the  highest  quality  at  four  to  five 
thousand.  Americans,  who  are  a race  of  coffee 
drinkers,  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  prod- 
uct of  our  neighbors,  which  is  the  finest  in  the 

313 


214 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


world  outside  of  Mocha  and  Java,  goes  chiefly 
to  England  and  Germany,  where  the  people  seem 
inclined  to  mix  too  much  chicory  with  it  for  our 
taste. 

While  rubber  dislikes  cultivation  and  grows 
best  wild,  to  the  disappointment  of  many  a stock- 
holder in  rubber  plantations,  coffee  requires  al- 
most as  much  attention  as  an  American  Beauty 
rose  from  the  time  the  seed  is  planted  in  the 
nursery  under  cover  of  plantain  leaves,  through 
transplanting,  and  to  full  bearing  five  and  six 
years  later.  In  lower  altitudes  it  must  be  shaded, 
and  in  higher  it  must  be  protected  from  the  north 
winds.  Flowering  is  the  critical  period.  Should 
the  dry  season  break  faith  by  heavy  showers, 
fructification  will  be  impaired.  Trees  will  grow 
to  twenty  feet  in  height  if  allowed,  but  are  kept 
trimmed  down  to  nine  or  ten.  The  berry  ripens 
in  October.  After  picking  it  must  be  “pulped.” 
Then  it  is  yergamino  and  is  spread  out  to  dry  on 
the  cement  pavements,  and  later  the  wafer-like 
covering  is  removed,  and  it  is  oro  and  ready  for 
market.  Profits  are  frequently  immense,  but 
rarely  so  for  the  novice.  The  choice  of  ground  is 
as  puzzling  as  that  of  good  orange  land  in  south- 
ern California.  A distance  of  a half  mile,  though 
the  soil  seems  the  same,  will  make  a difference  in 
the  crop  which  only  experience  can  test. 

Wherever  coffee  grows  the  nights  are  cool  and 
the  air  bracing.  But  the  banana  seems  to  thrive 


ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS  215 


best  as  the  consort  of  miasma  and  malarial  mos- 
quitoes. When  the  train  from  San  Jose  to  Puerto 
Limon  leaves  the  last  scattered  coffee  fields  be- 
hind, it  descends  into  the  heart  of  the  lowlands 
and  runs  among  the  banana  plantations,  where 
the  white  man  is  inclined  to  hammocks  and  to 
supervising  an  acclimatized  race.  The  banana 
asks  for  hot  rains  and  muck  in  which  to  set  its 
roots.  No  skilled  labor  is  required.  Set  out  a 
sprout  and  let  it  grow  and  wait  for  the  bunch, 
gathered  with  a sweep  of  the  machete , and  taken 
in  pairs  on  strong  black  shoulders  to  the  car  or 
boat. 

“Yes,  young  man,”  Mr.  Merry,  the  veteran 
American  minister  to  Costa  Rica,  tells  his  in- 
quirers, “yes,  it  is  quite  true  that  you  can  make 
from  25  to  30  per  cent,  on  your  capital  if  you 
start  a banana  plantation.  There  is  no  trick  be- 
hind the  company’s  offer.  It  can  well  afford  to 
take  your  product  at  a price  which  assures  such 
a profit.  However,  young  man,  I shouldn’t  be 
fair  if  I did  not  tell  you  something  else.  You 
must  consider  that  if  you  are  not  dead  at  the  end 
of  five  years,  you  may  be  such  a physical  wreck 
from  malaria  that  your  fortune  will  do  you  no 
good.” 

The  yellowing  bunch  in  front  of  the  country 
store  and  the  blackening  “four  for  five”  in  the 
pushcart  of  the  city  form  the  most  potent  Ameri- 
can trade  influence  in  Central  American  affairs. 


216 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  romance  of  wheat  is  commonplace  beside  this 
far  traveler  from  the  swelter  of  Caribbean  coasts, 
ripening  as  it  goes,  which  passes  through  north- 
ern blizzards  to  our  tables. 

As  an  industry  in  its  larger  sense,  this  one  is 
more  recent  than  steel  and  its  growth  as  rapid. 
Twenty  years  ago  the  United  States  ate  5,000,000 
bunches  a year;  ten  years  ago,  15,000,000,  and 
in  1909,  60,000,000.  In  every  Central  American 
country,  after  the  doleful  tales  of  misgovernment 
and  decay  on  the  west  coast,  you  hear  of  pros- 
perity on  the  east  coast,  which  the  ever-increasing 
banana  export  created. 

The  Caribbean  Islands  share  the  bounty. 
Jamaica,  her  sugar  plantations  in  ruins,  was 
saved  from  economic  despair  by  the  banana  trade. 
England  has  trebled  her  consumption  in  the  last 
five  years.  Germany  and  France  are  beginning 
to  receive  importations  in  quantity. 

The  growth  in  consumption,  primarily  due  to 
the  recognition  of  the  banana  as  a food,  would 
have  been  impossible  without  improved  means  of 
transportation.  The  problem  from  the  first  has 
been  to  deliver  the  banana  in  edible  condition  at 
the  purchaser’s  door.  Fast  steamers,  with  their 
holds  kept  at  the  right  temperature,  which  is  only 
48  degrees  Fahrenheit,  now  run  direct  to  Liver- 
pool and  Hamburg.  Too  much  heat  means  that 
the  banana  will  ripen  too  fast. 

There  are  warming  houses  in  big  railroad  cen- 


ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS  217 


ters  of  our  Northern  States,  where,  in  winter, 
the  chill  is  taken  off  the  fruit  before  the 
journey  is  continued.  When  picked  it  is  green 
and  unedible  and  not  filled  out.  Sucking  the 
strength  of  the  stem,  the  fingers  swell  as  they 
ripen.  But  no  one  who  has  never  been  in  the 
tropics  knows  what  a really  good  banana  is — 
a banana  which  is  not  cut  until  its  skin  sets  tight 
on  the  plump  flesh.  And  the  best  are  not  the  big 
ones  which  are  exported,  but  the  pineapple  type, 
scarcely  larger  than  a man’s  thumb,  found  in  the 
height  of  its  excellence,  to  my  mind,  in  the  Philip- 
pines. The  big  banana,  like  the  big  strawberry, 
is  the  product  of  cultivation  and  hardening  for 
market  purposes. 

A banana  belt  runs  all  along  both  coasts  of 
Central  America.  But  the  land  on  the  west  coast 
lies  fallow,  awaiting  a market.  That  of  the  east 
coast  extends  all  the  way  from  the  Guatemalan 
border,  a strip  from  20  to  200  miles  in  breadth, 
with  some  breaks,  to  Brazil,  while  most  of  the 
islands  of  the  Caribbean  may  be  included  in  a 
field  which  might  produce  ten  times  our  present 
consumption. 

The  history  of  the  wheat  lands  is,  in  one  sense, 
the  history  of  the  banana  lands.  Those  which 
were  richest  and  most  accessible  were  the  first  to 
be  developed.  Political  conditions,  besides, 
played  a part.  No  one  would  think  of  starting 
a plantation  in  the  black  republics  of  Haiti  or 


218 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Santo  Domingo  or  in  overtaxed,  revolutionary, 
corrupt  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua,  when  equally 
good  and  cheap  ground  could  be  had  under  Brit- 
ish rule  in  Jamaica  or  in  the  orderly  republic  of 
Costa  Rica — which  was  the  loss  of  the  backward 
and  the  gain  of  the  forward  countries.  The  best 
quality  of  bananas  is  grown  in  the  republic  of 
Panama;  the  most  prolific  soil  is  in  Costa  Rica. 

Of  the  whole  business  of  import  into  the  United 
States  the  United  Fruit  Company  controls  from 
three-fourths  to  four-fifths.  The  company  es- 
capes prosecution  for  its  trust  methods,  the  courts 
having  held  that,  as  it  controls  a product  grown 
outside  the  United  States,  it  falls  outside  the  pale 
of  the  law.  By  adroit  and  masterful  manage- 
ment, by  all  the  economies  and  methods  of  com- 
petition known  to  other  corporations,  this  great 
example  has  built  up  its  business  in  the  last 
twenty  years. 

It  combines  freight  with  passenger  traffic.  Al- 
though American  shipping  is  at  its  lowest  ebb  the 
company  is  able  to  build  new  ships.  With  no  in- 
terest in  government  except  to  develop  busi- 
ness one  way  and  another  it  manages,  always  with 
dividends  in  view,  pretty  well  to  gain  its  political 
ends.  By  force  of  necessity,  prosperity  and  order 
must  prevail  more  or  less  in  every  port  which  it 
dominates. 

The  “banana  railroad,”  a narrow  gauge  which 
taps  the  plantations,  bringing  on  to  the  wharf 


ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS  219 


trains  of  cars  piled  high  with  bunches  of  fruit, 
is  the  land  tentacle  of  the  corporation. 

The  company  does  not  stop  with  the  ownership 
of  railroads,  steamers  and  piers.  It  owns  vast 
tracts  of  banana  land,  developed  and  undevel- 
oped. Forty  per  cent,  of  the  plantations  of  Costa 
Rica  are  in  its  possession,  and  in  other  regions 
an  equally  large  or  even  larger  percentage. 

Beside  the  steel  trust,  which  faces  the  ex- 
haustion of  ore,  and  the  Standard  Oil  trust, 
which  must  some  day  be  without  oil,  the  banana 
trust  is  in  the  situation  of  a flour  trust  owning 
40  per  cent,  of  the  Western  wheat  country.  It 
has  control  of  the  soil,  that  permanent,  unfailing 
source  of  wealth  which,  by  comparison,  in  the  long 
run  makes  the  mining  business  fitful  and  beg- 
garly. 

Between  the  stools  of  home  consumption  and 
exclusive  foreign  production,  the  banana  trust 
has  fallen  into  a comfortable  seat.  Criticism  of 
its  methods  in  Costa  Rica  and  Jamaica  has  as 
yet  carried  little  weight  because  of  the  market 
which  the  company  has  created  by  its  facilities 
for  transportation.  It  has  fed  impoverished 
treasuries  and  brought  silk  in  place  of  cotton  ban- 
dannas to  kinky  heads  and  lace  curtains  to  the 
windows  of  tumbledowni  negro  huts.  For  the 
banana  man  is  the  Jamaican  black. 

The  picture  of  him  w ith  a bunch  of  bananas 
on  his  shoulder  running  up  a steamer’s  gangway 


220 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


is  the  one  most  inseparably  characteristic  of  the 
Caribbean.  Malaria  and  heat  and  mire  do  not 
disturb  him.  The  company  has  also  brought  for- 
tune to  many  planters,  native  and  American,  who 
have  managed  to  escape  without  an  incurable 
case  of  malaria.  Our  knowledge  of  the  mosquito 
and  of  sanitation  gained  on  the  Isthmus  insure  a 
healthier  future. 

Most  of  the  planters  in  Costa  Rica  are  Ameri- 
cans. The  Costa  Ricans  themselves  are  too  happy 
growing  coffee  in  the  cool  highlands  to  undergo 
the  punishing  climate  of  the  lowlands,  where  en- 
durance and  killing  time  are  really  the  chief  requi- 
sites. A little  supervision  and  the  rivers  and 
the  Jamaicans  do  the  rest.  The  sediment  washed 
from  the  hills  by  the  freshets  provides  annual 
fertilization. 

Every  bunch  has  from  seven  to  twelve  hands; 
the  company  refuses  the  sevens.  Though  they 
have  more  than  a hundred  bananas,  they  are  not 
worth  while  in  the  careful  calculation  of  labor, 
time  and  interest  charges.  It  pays  31  cents  for 
all  bunches  of  nine  hands  or  over  and  25  cents  for 
eights.  At  that  rate  the  young  man  who  fights 
the  malaria  will  make  25  per  cent,  on  his  money, 
if  he  knows  anything  about  banana  raising  and 
banana  soil. 

The  company  gets  an  average  of  $1.70  a bunch, 
averaging  150  to  175  bananas,  in  the  States, 
which  represents  the  cost  of  handling  and  trans- 


ABOUT  COFFEE  AND  BANANAS  221 


portation,  while  we  know  what  the  retailer  re- 
ceives. The  business  pays  because  of  its  magni- 
tude, and  pays  well.  Day  after  day,  under  the 
frying  sun,  year  in  and  year  out,  the  little  en- 
gines of  the  “banana  railroads,”  running  in  and 
out  among  the  plantations,  sing  their  chuk-chuk 
in  the  still,  hot  air  among  the  motionless  leaves, 
onward  to  the  pier,  where  the  Jamaican  yells  and 
sings  and  giggles  as  he  starts  the  bunches  on  their 
journey  to  the  pushcarts  and  the  country  grocery. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-ONE 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION 

rpHEY  tell  the  story  of  a mother  who  re- 
marked  that  her  son  Rodriguez  was  a 
bright  boy  and  ought  to  grow  up  to  be  a clever 
revolutionist. 

It  was  like  saying  that  Rodriguez  would  be  a 
good  lawyer,  soldier,  or  merchant ; or,  rather,  the 
three  combined.  Revolution  has  been  the  golden 
road  to  honor,  success  and  profit. 

Its  heroic  ideal,  so  far  as  I could  learn,  is  Boli- 
var, Rufino  Barrios  and  Napoleon.  I fancy  that 
I met  as  many  men  who  thought  themselves  little 
Napoleons  as  there  are  Websters  in  our  debating 
societies.  The  profession  looks  down  on  any- 
thing but  war  and  intrigue  with  all  the  hauteur 
of  the  Austrian  nobility  on  trade. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  revolutionists,  moody 
and  cheerful  by  nature,  specialists  at  soldiering  or 
intrigue.  One  is  celebrated  for  his  effective  dis- 
guises. 

“I  have  seen  ex-President  Alfaro,”  said  an  ad- 
mirer, “a  barefooted  laborer,  making  faces  in  the 
plaza  of  San  Salvador  at  the  palace,  when,  if 

322 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION  223 


he  had  been  recognized,  he  w ould  have  been  shot 
as  sure  as  fate.” 

The  cheerful  revolutionist  is  a real  philosopher. 
One  whom  I met  was  most  entertaining  in  his 
disquisition  on  the  jails  of  Central  America,  with 
cynical  references  to  the  lashes  he  had  suffered. 

“Some  day  I’ll  get  even;  I’ll  have  my  turn,” 
he  concluded,  “and  I’ll  have  a few  of  my  enemies 
beaten.  I was  a general  at  twenty-one,  and  I 
got  nearly  a yard  of  gold  lace  for  my  uniform 
off  a German  ship.” 

“How  did  you  become  a general?  How  many 
troops  did  you  have?”  I asked. 

“You  Americans  are  so  practical,”  he  returned. 
“I  had  fourteen  rifles.  I gathered  an  army  of 
no  less  than  a hundred  men.  Of  course  I chose 
myself  the  general.  In  Central  America  our  gen- 
erals are  self-made,”  he  continued.  “We  don’t 
wait  our  turn  in  peace,  as  you  do  in  Europe  and 
the  States.  Romance  and  opportunity  are  not 
dead  with  us.  Honor  is  to  those  who  wrin  it  by 
making  their  own  battalions.” 

The  saddest  picture  is  that  of  the  old  man  wrho 
has  been  plotting  and  fighting  all  his  life  and 
in  his  old  age  is  penniless  and  out  of  employment. 
Such  a veteran  I met  aboard  one  of  the  steamers. 
He  wras  of  pure,  or  almost  pure,  Spanish  blood. 
As  he  sawr  life  the  wrorld  wras  going  to  the  dogs. 
The  profession  wras  degenerating.  Barbarians 
were  taking  the  place  of  gentlemen.  He  paced 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


224 

the  deck  with  eloquent  gestures,  crushing  his  ene- 
mies in  imagination.  “There  is  fight  in  the  old 
man  still,”  he  muttered.  He  would  yet  live  to 
see  the  younger  men  who  had  beaten  him  lined 
up  and  shot  after  a hundred  lashes. 

“H said  a man  who  knew  him,  “is  one 

of  the  most  eloquent  propagandists  in  Central 
America.  If  I were  starting  a revolution  I’d 
employ  him  just  for  his  literary  skill.  It’s  mag- 
nificent. When  he  is  in  the  throes  of  composition 
he  actually  believes  every  word  he  writes,  too.” 

The  art  of  propaganda  becomes  increasingly 
difficult.  After  listening  to  proclamations  utter- 
ly devoid  of  truth  from  Spanish  captains-general 
and  the  revolutionists  of  later  times,  who  never 
practiced  what  they  preached,  the  people  have 
become  hardened  to  political  rhetoric.  However, 
you  are  bound  to  catch  a few  of  the  younger 
generation,  despite  all  the  skepticism  of  their  eld- 
ers. I was  unable  to  get  any  of  H ’s  procla- 

mations, but  here  is  one,  only  a fair  sample,  I am 
told,  written  by  General  Timoteo  Miralda,  or 
his  scribe,  who  invaded  Honduras  from  Guate- 
mala unsuccessfully  in  the  summer  of  1008: 

“Hondurans:  I wish  to  say  a few  words  to 

my  Honduran  brothers — to  those  sons  of  the  fer- 
tile soil  and  the  land  of  heroic  history! 

“It  is  not  a proclamation  full  of  promises  and 
vulgar  ambition.  [This,  I am  told,  is  a set  phrase, 
and  its  use  indicated,  so  his  enemies  said, 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION  225 


Miralda’s  lack  of  originality.]  It  is  the  cry  of  a 
nation  written  with  ignominy  when  she  was  sub- 
merged by  a group  of  traitors! 

“O  mother  country  of  mine!  You  have  pre- 
sented your  bosom  to  your  children  and  they  have 
plunged  a dagger  into  that  sacred  wound.  They 
have  sold  you  like  a street  harlot  to  Jose  Santos 
Zelaya,  that  lascivious  monster  formed  by  the  fire 
of  lust  and  with  the  flesh  of  crime,”  and  so  on. 
Critics  said  that  his  last  sentence  was  the  only 
one  with  any  real  vitality. 

Besides  the  proclamation  (which  is  secretly  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  land,  where  the  few  who 
can  read  translate  its  contents  to  the  others)  there 
is  an  eloquent  address,  read  in  a solemn  manner 
to  the  first  band  of  soldiers  that  is  gathered.  Very 
likely  it  will  begin,  on  the  pattern  of  Napoleon’s 
address  to  his  Egyptian  army,  with:  “Soldiers, 
the  glorious  hills  bathed  in  the  blood  of  your  an- 
cestors.” The  soldiers  have  no  uniforms.  Their 
rifles  are  usually  single-loading  Remingtons. 
When  the  intelligence  of  the  dictator’s  own  army 
is  insufficient  for  the  use  of  magazine  arms  how 
can  raw  recruits  be  expected  to  master  the 
mechanism  ? 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  revolution  succeeds — 
all  uprisings  being  called  revolutions  in  these 
countries.  What  is  the  process  ? A commissariat 
is  as  slight  a desideratum  as  drill.  The  original 
band  captures  and  loots  the  first  town  on  the  road 


226 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


to  the  capital  and  perhaps  captures  some  of  the 
rifles  of  the  government  troops.  Gradually  the 
band,  taking  food  wherever  it  is  found,  without 
any  thought  of  paying  for  it,  increases  its  num- 
bers by  conscription.  The  privates  are  invariably 
Indians  and  half  castes,  the  officers  white  or  half 
caste.  Any  healthy-looking  youngster  who  does 
not  escape  into  the  brush  is  made  a recruit  with- 
out any  formality  of  swearing  him  in.  Lacking 
a rifle,  he  has  his  machete , which  is  his  axe,  hatchet 
and  knife  in  one. 

To  illustrate  the  simplicity  of  the  average 
peasant,  I was  told  the  story  of  an  Indian  whose 
horse  was  requisitioned  by  a revolutionary  party. 

“I’ll  have  to  stay  with  my  property,  for  it’s  all 
I have  in  the  world,”  he  said,  taking  up  the 
march. 

He  became  footsore  and  weary,  the  horse  lame 
and  emaciated,  but  still  both  staggered  on. 

“I  wish  my  horse  would  die.  Then  I could  go 
home,”  complained  the  Indian. 

Discipline  is  maintained  in  these  bands  by  hav- 
ing the  “trusties,”  who  alone  have  rifles,  shoot  the 
weary  and  backward;  and  that  is  practically  the 
limit  of  military  training.  An  uprising  with  any 
headway  has  its  secret  allies  in  the  capital.  Hope- 
fully the  soldiers  of  the  despot,  being  long  in 
arrears  of  pay,  will  refuse  to  fight. 

Once  the  successful  general  enters  the  palace 
he  suspends  the  Constitution,  which  was  already 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION  227 


suspended — but  it  is  a custom  in  this  way  to 
recognize  that  there  is  such  a thing  as  a Consti- 
tution— and  proclaims  martial  law.  lie  pays  off 
his  personal  enemies  whom  he  catches  with  tor- 
ture or  imprisonment.  But  most  of  them  act 
early  by  fleeing  the  country  for  their  lives. 

Every  office  is  at  once  filled  by  the  new  ruler’s 
partisans.  Ilis  leading  generals  become  jcfe 
politicos  of  the  provinces.  Jcfe  politico  is  a most 
coveted  position.  It  carries  all  the  graft  of  the 
province  which  can  be  kept  out  of  the  President’s 
hands.  It  commands  the  decisions  of  the  local 
judges.  All  national  graft  is  the  President’s,  and 
the  national  judges  do  his  will.  Where  he  can- 
not distribute  benefits  he  distributes  honors.  Any 
number  of  sergeants  become  generals ; others  are 
made  members  of  Congress,  though,  of  course,  a 
Congressional  career  is  purely  honorary.  All  the 
certificates  given  in  exchange  for  forced  loans  by 
the  previous  administration  are  repudiated. 

The  newcomer’s  first  step  after  taking  any 
bullion  he  may  capture — and  almost  none  is  left 
in  Honduras,  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua — is  to 
make  an  internal  loan  of  his  own,  by  which  well- 
to-do  citizens  are  forced  to  subscribe  to  perfectly 
worthless  paper  which  promises  to  pay  10  per 
cent,  a year ; or  they  are  told  that  they  can  put  up 
certain  sums  as  voluntary  loans  or  go  to  jail. 

The  dictator  is  a hard  worker.  His  rule  is 
personal.  He  must  look  after  details.  He  must 


228 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


be  on  the  watch  against  assassination  and  in- 
trigue and  against  his  agents  taking  more  than 
their  share  of  the  funds.  His  ability  in  his  role 
is  largely  to  be  judged  by  the  amount  of  money 
he  can  personally  accumulate  as  against  the 
amount  he  has  to  spare  to  his  agents.  A guard 
of  his  soldiers  in  the  capital  receives  uniforms  and 
occasionally  some  pay,  as  his  personal  safety  de- 
pends on  them.  New  soldiers  are  had  by  im- 
pressment. 

The  comandantes  and  jefes  politicos  are  al- 
lowed only  enough  for  actual  needs,  lest  they  shall 
get  too  ambitious.  The  national  telegraph  sys- 
tem centers  in  the  palace,  so  that  el  Presidente 
may  keep  close  watch  of  what  every  one  is  doing. 

When  private  vengeance  pleases  him,  as  it 
often  does,  he  keeps  the  enemies  whom  he  does 
not  shoot  suffering  in  jail,  and  perhaps  sends  a 
jesting  word  about  the  fate  of  wife  or  daughter 
to  them.  Others  he  refuses  to  allow  to  leave  the 
country,  or  forces  them  to  leave,  according  as  his 
political  judgment  indicates. 

Whenever  any  uprising  occurs  he  rushes  a com- 
pany of  soldiers  to  the  spot.  Not  a year  has 
passed  since  independence  without  some  armed 
uprising.  Each  one  succeeds  in  a measure  if  the 
loot  of  a town  yields  enough  money  to  the  leader 
to  live  for  a year  or  so  in  exile,  while  he  plots  fresh 
mischief.  Uprisings  that  overthrow  the  govern- 
ment are  becoming  more  and  more  difficult,  owing 


The  author's  Honduran  boatmen 


At  President  Cabrera’s  door 


>»•* 


- ♦ 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION  229 


to  the  telegraph.  A revolution  can  get  a good 
start  these  days  only  by  organization  on  the  other 
side  of  the  border  or  friendly  support  from  the 
United  States. 

Foreign  relations  consist  of  a numerous  band 
of  spies,  which  will  keep  the  dictator  fully  ad- 
vised of  what  the  exiles  are  plotting  in  the  neigh- 
boring countries.  Venomous  rivalry  exists  be- 
tween the  different  rulers,  whose  vanity  is  Boab- 
dilian. 

“I’ve  beaten  and  shot  men,”  declared  Cabrera 
discriminately,  referring  to  Zelaya  in  an  alleged 
interview  in  a Costa  Rican  paper,  “but  I never 
gave  them  enemas  of  alcohol  and  Chile  peppers.” 

In  1906  Cabrera  was  at  war  with  Salvador; 
in  1907  Zelaya  with  Salvador  and  with  Hon- 
duras, and  in  each  instance  as  many  soldiers  (so- 
called)  ’were  on  the  march,  according  to  the  popu- 
lation, as  Russia  had  engaged  in  the  war  with 
Japan.  These  conflicts  are  not  altogether  opera 
bouffe.  Casualties  are  frequently  heavy. 

At  Namazique  (in  the  recent  war  between 
Honduras  and  Nicaragua)  I was  told  that  more 
men  than  we  lost  at  San  Juan  Hill  were  mowed 
down  in  a cul-de-sac  by  some  rapid-fire  guns  hid- 
den in  the  jungle.  But,  generally  speaking,  there 
is  much  shouting  and  firing  from  the  hip,  and  one 
side  or  the  other  retires  early.  Yet  I heard  of 
occasions  where  bands  of  the  older  soldiers — the 
tough  element  which  is  the  professional  nucleus — ■ 


230 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


without  any  impelling  cause  had  fought  most 
gallantly. 

To  hear  the  generals  talk,  however,  there  are 
no  heroes  below  the  rank  of  general.  I sat  oppo- 
site a terrible  fellow  at  a hotel,  who  told  me  that 
he  had  whipped  a whole  company  single-handed. 

“I  waved  my  sword  and  charged  them,  and  my 
sword  was  dripping  with  blood !”  he  said,  waving 
his  knife,  which  was  dripping  with  frijole  juice. 
“In  our  country  we  are  truly  soldiers;  we  fight,” 
he  resumed.  “What  is  a soldier’s  life  in  Ger- 
many? They  grow  old  without  ever  smelling 
blood.  Why  shouldn’t  they  remain  majors  while 
we  become  generals  ? Senor,  behold  me ! I have 
been  in  eight  battles  already!” 

The  number  of  generals  and  officials  is  some- 
thing appalling.  The  “outs”  as  well  as  the  “ins” 
live,  in  some  way  or  other,  off  the  body  politic. 
As  a political  convict  the  government  has  to  feed 
the  revolutionist  while  he  works  cleaning  the 
streets  or  on  the  roads.  There  is  one  soldier  to 
every  convict,  as  a rule.  If  the  convict  escapes, 
the  soldier  himself  is  put  in  balls  and  chains,  or, 
perhaps,  shot.  Soldier  and  convict  sometimes  run 
away  together. 

It  seemed  to  me — and,  generally  speaking,  this 
is  correct — that  every  man  in  Central  America, 
outside  of  Costa  Rica,  who  had  a smattering  of 
education  was,  in  one  form  or  another,  potentially 
a revolutionist.  The  “out”  often  goes  to  the  rival 


REVOLUTION  AS  A PROFESSION  231 


dictator’s  country  and  seeks  a little  allowance  as 
an  ally  in  planning  trouble  for  his  own  country. 
In  any  event,  a few  dollars  a month  will  maintain 
him  in  a land  where  food  is  cheap.  All  the  minds 
of  the  country  are  occupied  with  machinations, 
and  the  wheels  within  wheels  of  plots  and  counter- 
plots are  past  any  outsider’s  understanding. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY -TWO 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS 

OUCCESS  in  retail  trade  and  coffee  growing 
^ is  to  the  German  in  Central  America.  He 
learns  the  language;  mixes  with  the  people;  rises 
early;  and  avoids  politics.  If  the  government 
wants  to  pay  a double  price  so  that  an  official  may 
have  additional  profits,  he  is  willing.  Whatever 
is  the  custom  of  the  country,  he  observes  it  all 
to  the  end  of  an  occasional  vacation  trip  on  a 
German  steamer  to  Hamburg,  and  the  hope  of  a 
competency  on  which  he  may  retire  to  the  mother- 
land. 

Throughout  southern  Mexico  and  Central 
America  the  American  coffee  planter  generally 
fails  and  the  German  thrives.  The  extreme 
American  case  is  the  company  promoter  w ho  buys 
a patch  of  jungle  and  sells  as  many  shares  as  he 
can.  The  jungle  keeps  on  growing,  but  no  coffee 
trees  grow;  while  the  promoter  turns  his  atten- 
tion to  other  fields.  Let  it  be  repeated  without 
equivocation  that  anybody  who  invests  in  any 
land  or  plantation  scheme  south  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  when  he  has  not  seen  the  property  or 

232 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS  233 

does  not  know  his  men,  may  consider  his  money 
lost. 

Another  type  is  the  American  who  makes  a 
company  among  his  friends  and  boldly  under- 
takes a business  with  which  he  is  unfamiliar,  in  a 
climate  which  is  new  to  him.  He  buys  his  experi- 
ence dearly.  Knowing  neither  the  language  nor 
the  labor,  which  is  a law  unto  itself,  he  pays  ex- 
cessive prices  to  contractors  and  officials  for  clear- 
ing the  land,  for  which  he  paid  too  much  original- 
ly. Even  if  he  does  not  choose  a bad  location  he 
exhausts  his  capital  in  learning  the  art  of  culti- 
vating and  marketing  his  crop. 

But  the  German  comes  first  as  an  assistant 
manager,  and  after  he  has  served  an  apprentice- 
ship, with  his  savings  and  a little  borrowed  capital 
he  gets  a small  plantation  for  himself.  He  is 
patient,  industrious,  frugal,  content  with  small 
profits,  and  works  a coffee  plantation  without 
any  thought  of  it  as  a bonanza — which  is  the 
American  fault — but  rather  as  a good  farmer 
works  a fertile  farm  at  home. 

After  the  German  as  a merchant  and  a business 
man  comes  the  Italian.  In  Nicaragua  he  rivals 
the  German.  Frenchmen  and  Englishmen,  so 
plentiful  in  South  America,  are  rare  in  Central 
America.  Poverty-stricken  countries  offer  small 
profits  in  running  restaurants  or  cafes,  where  you 
have  to  feed  so  large  an  official  class  at  reduced 
rates. 


234 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  Englishman  lacking  the  gift  of  the  Ger- 
man for  small  economies  and  used  to  orderly  con- 
trol of  backward  native  races,  shares  with  the 
American  a certain  inherent  stubbornness,  which 
will  not  adapt  itself  to  the  system  of  spies,  as- 
sassinations and  extortion  which  prevails.  Only 
when  the  American  is  a part  of  some  corporation, 
which  is  somewhat  of  a law  unto  itself,  does  he 
thrive.  If  he  is  not  a railroad  or  a fruit  com- 
pany’s man  he  is  usually  a prospector  or  a tramp. 
So  both  the  most  capable  and  the  most  incapable 
of  foreign  residents  are  under  our  protection. 

The  prospector  we  all  know.  He  drifts  across 
the  border  from  California  to  Mexico,  gabbles 
Spanish  enough  to  get  along,  and  drifts  on  into 
Central  America.  You  will  find  him  in  Peru  and 
Bolivia,  in  Honduras  and  Guatemala.  As  for- 
tune fluctuates,  he  dines  in  the  best  restaurant  or 
stretches  himself  on  the  mud  floor  of  a mountain 
hut,  where  mine  host  remarks : 

“Senor,  if  you  have  the  foreign  custom  of  wash- 
ing your  face  in  the  morning,  there’s  a gourd  out- 
side the  door.” 

A change  of  mood  may  mean  a change  of  direc- 
tion. A prospector  that  I met  in  Punta  Arenas, 
Costa  Rica,  when  both  a northbound  and  a south- 
bound steamer  were  in  port,  told  me  he  was  going 
to  Mexico.  An  hour  later,  as  I went  by,  he  thrust 
his  head  out  of  the  window  with  a happy,  irre- 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS  235 


sponsible:  “Say,  I’m  going  to  Peru.  Ain’t  been 
in  Peru  for  five  years.” 

The  true  prospector  has  the  gift  of  making 
friends  with  any  kind  of  people.  He  is  a good 
story-teller;  he  never  mixes  in  politics.  All  he 
asks  is  a chance  to  look  for  gold,  and  his  dream  is 
comfort  in  California.  Officialdom  favors  him  a 
little,  for  if  he  should  find  a mine  it  means  graft 
for  the  officials.  Sometimes  he  loses  his  American 
temper  and  then  he  is  a had  man,  as  the  natives 
know.  I was  told  the  story  of  a big  fellow  who 
appeared  in  the  doorway  of  an  American  Con- 
sulate one  day  with  two  small  soldiers,  whom  he 
held  by  the  coat  collars. 

“These  little  chaps  want  to  arrest  me,”  he  ex- 
plained. “But  I want  to  know  from  you  first  if 
it’s  all  right.  If  it  is,  why,  of  course,  I’ll  go  along 
to  jail.” 

Another  tale,  for  which  the  writer  does  not 
vouch,  says  that  your  much-traveled  prospector 
south  of  the  Rio  Grande  may  be  recognized  by 
his  habit  of  shaking  his  trousers  and  shirt  for 
tarantulas  before  he  puts  them  on  in  the  morning. 
He  will  do  so  even  aboard  a steamer.  It  is  well 
to  avoid  tarantulas  and  the  “red  liquor.”  Red 
liquor  overheats  the  human  bearings  in  the  tropics 
and  soon  finishes  mind  and  body.  Of  all  the  pic- 
tures that  offend  your  national  pride,  the  worst 
is  that  white  derelict  lying  drunk  in  the  filth 
beside  the  road,  to  be  tossed  in  the  brush  for  the 


236 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


vultures  one  day  when  he  expires.  He  and  better 
Americans  know  the  interior  of  Central  Ameri- 
can jails,  w-hose  foulness  is  incredible. 

In  Mexico  the  American  Society  sees  the 
American  who  “goes  broke”  to  the  border  with  a 
little  stake.  There  is  no  such  society  in  Central 
America.  At  times  the  American  tramp  must 
regret  it — for  we  must  not  forget  him.  “At  least 
four  or  five  go  by  every  week,”  said  an  American 
who  lives  on  the  Costa  Rica  Railroad,  “and  they 
all  have  the  same  tale” — a tale  which  usually 
sends  the  American  new-comer’s  hand  into  his 
pocket. 

But  experience  hardens  you,  though  some  ap- 
peals you  cannot  resist.  It  wras  in  Guatemala 
that  a perfectly  good-natured  “beat”  came  up  to 
me  and  said : “Say,  old  man,  will  you  read  that?” 
which  was  a “No”  on  a telegram  form.  “Old 
man,  the  folks  at  home  have  been  handing  me 
nothing  but  ‘Noes’  all  my  life.  Ain’t  it  h — 1? 
And  five  paper  dollars  this  money  would  look  so 
big  to  me,  and  it  ain’t  but  30  cents  our  money. 
Now,  when  you’ve  just  come  from  up  in  God’s 
country  where  I belong,  won’t  you” — and  so 
forth. 

Do  you  imagine  that  you  will  miss  another 
American — the  colored  one?  He  is  omnipresent, 
has  a pride  of  caste  and  nationality  which  makes 
the  rest  of  us  seem  unpatriotic.  Looking  out  of 
the  train  window-  one  day  in  Guatemala  I saw-  an 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS  23 1 

inky  face  above  massive  shoulders  on  a fitting 
background  of  jungle,  and  I asked: 

“How  do  you  Jamaicans  get  on  in  this  coun- 
try?” 

His  eyes  flashed  with  scorn.  The  Jamaicans 
are  an  inferior  order  of  jet. 

“Did  yo’  evah  heah  a man  dat  talks  de  way 
Ah  do  dat’s  a Jamaican?  Ahse  frum  Texarkana, 
Ah’d  hab  yo’  know!” 

“And  how  do  the  Jamaicans  behave?”  I asked. 

“Oh,  dey’s  all  right  in  deir  place — an’  dey  keeps 
deir  place  when  Ahse  ’round.” 

“And  what  are  you  doing  here?”  I pursued. 

“Rustlin’  logs  fo’  de  sawmill.  Dey  cain’t  enuff 
o’  dese  li’l  natives  get  hoi’  of  a log  to  oncet  to 
lift  it,  an’  de  Jamaicans  dey  ain’t  got  nuff  sense 
to  keep  out  from  in  front  of  de  saw.” 

In  his  way  he  was  as  significant  of  home  as 
the  occasional  drummer  who  breaks  away  from 
the  beaten  trails  of  the  United  States  and  sails 
southward  with  a trunk  of  samples,  great  ambi- 
tion, and  no  knowledge  of  the  country.  A visit 
to  one  leading  city  of  this  terra  incognita  makes 
him  homesick  for  the  smoking  compartment  of 
a Pullman,  the  water  cooler,  and  the  click  of  the 
metal  room  key  on  the  hotel  desk. 

“This  is  the  limit!”  he  says.  “There  isn’t 
enough  business  in  the  whole  nation  to  keep  one 
town  of  25,000  inhabitants  at  home  going.”  And 
he  returns,  minus  orders  and  plus  much  wisdom. 


238 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  foreign  drummer,  knowing  the  language,  is 
careful  and  calculating.  No  order  is  too  small  for 
him.  His  firm  is  ready  to  pack  goods  to  suit  the 
customer,  and  so  that  they  wall  stand  wagon  or 
mule  transportation. 

One  American  commercial  traveler  I did  meet 
who  was  quite  “on  to  the  job.”  He  spoke  Span- 
ish as  a mother’s  son,  and  represented  a famous 
arms  firm.  As  every  Central  American  who 
considers  himself  a gentleman  must  carry  a re- 
volver, the  revolver  trade  thrives;  and  our  sales- 
man knew  his  people  like  a book.  He  posted  me 
on  all  the  hotels  with  the  familiarity  of  one  who 
has  been  long  on  the  route. 

“It’s  all  the  fault  of  my  knowing  Spanish,”  he 
complained.  “I’m  afraid  I’m  condemned  to  it 
forever.  I’m  afraid  the  house  will  think  that  I 
cannot  do  anything  else.” 

Before  the  extradition  treaties  Central  Amer- 
ica caught  a class  of  emigrants  who  wrent  to 
Canada  thirty  years  ago.  Now  the  defaulting 
bank  cashier  knows  no  safe  soil  in  the  w'orld  to- 
ward which  he  may  turn  his  aching  feet.  The 
adventurer  and  the  soldier  of  fortune  whose 
genius  blossoms  in  a land  of  intrigue  and  revolu- 
tions, and  who  is  frequently  wanted  at  home — 
but  not  so  badly  that  any  one  will  get  out  a war- 
rant for  him — you  meet  at  intervals.  They  look 
on  themselves  as  romantic  persons,  and  act  as  if 
they  are  ready  to  be  made  the  heroes  of  novels. 


American  foremen  and  Jamaica  blacks  on  a banana  plantation 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS  239 

One  has  more  sympathy  with  the  American — 
I had  the  story  from  a serious  consul — who  start- 
ed trout  breeding  in  an  upland  lake.  His  trout 
had  just  reached  edible  size  when  a volcanic  erup- 
tion killed  them  all.  Rut  he  was  not  discouraged. 
He  started  to  raise  wheat.  When  he  was  ready 
to  harvest  his  first  crop  the  tariff  on  flour  was 
removed. 

Too  frequently  the  American  concession  hunter 
judges  the  country’s  possibilities  by  its  natural 
wealth,  rather  than  by  the  human  handicaps.  He 
sees  rich  coffee  and  fruit  lands;  he  sees  the  very 
fence  posts  taking  root  and  growing  into  trees; 
and  his  active,  organizing  mind  plans  industrial 
wonders.  But  capital  has  learned  to  be  wary  of 
everything  Central  American,  and  will  continue 
so  until  some  vital  political  change  shall  come. 

I have  already  written  of  the  Fruit  Company’s 
interest  as  our  foremost  commercial  factor.  After 
this  come  railroads  and  mines.  The  few  railroads 
were  built  and  are  generally  run  by  Americans. 
Mining  exists  on  a large  scale  in  Honduras,  Costa 
Rica  and  Nicaragua.  The  engineers  and  me- 
chanics form  small  communities  of  their  own, 
forcing  certain  reforms  in  their  localities  by  the 
power  of  their  position.  But  in  trade,  in  plan- 
tations (except  banana),  the  frugal  foreigner  has 
us  beaten,  for  the  good  reason  that  capable  in- 
dividuals are  too  weak — or  too  manly,  perhaps — 
to  carry  on  the  battle  with  the  miserable  govern- 


240 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ments  when  there  are  so  many  opportunities  at 
home. 

The  tourist  you  never  see,  except  in  Costa  Rica. 
If  he  considers  his  stomach  and  is  fond  of 
cleanliness  he  is  rightly  advised  in  missing  the 
glorious  scenery  of  the  highlands  and  spending 
his  winter  holiday  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Bermuda 
or  Jamaica.  A fly  on  the  albumen  blanket  of 
the  fried  eggs  at  the  Grand  in  Guatemala  seemed 
an  established  custom.  Once  I suggested  to  the 
waiter  that  by  wray  of  variety  it  might  be  de- 
posited between  the  yolks,  but  he  seemed  neither 
offended  nor  amused. 

It  was  at  this  hotel  that  on  the  third  day  I in- 
sisted on  a clean  towel.  The  hall  boy  scuffled  away 
as  reluctantly  as  if  he  were  on  the  road  to  the  scaf- 
fold, and  after  a quarter  of  an  hour  returned  with 
one  having  the  service  stripes  of  a veteran.  I 
appealed  to  the  manager.  He  said  certainly,  and 
another  came,  a brown  antediluvian  that  must 
have  been  the  only  one  in  a suite  occupied  by  a 
large  family. 

“I  wanted  a clean  towel,  not  a different  towel,” 
I explained,  but  my  wit  was  lost  on  a desert 
mind. 

Such  idiosyncrasies  as  this  and  calling  for  an 
orange  for  breakfast  mark  you  as  a Gringo.  Does 
the  dairy  farmer  eat  grass?  Should  a well-to-do 
Central  American  descend  to  anything  relatively 
as  cheap  and  indigenous?  Usually  you  ask  in 


TYPES  OF  FOREIGN  RESIDENTS  241 


vain  for  the  pineapples,  the  alligator  pears,  and 
all  the  other  fruits  which  grow  abundantly.  The 
only  way  is  to  send  out  a boy  to  pick  some  or  to 
bring  them  from  market. 

Of  course  the  poorer  classes  eat  bananas  and 
fried  plantains,  while  the  well-to-do  seem  to  rate 
their  standing  in  society  by  the  amount  of  meat 
they  consume,  and  a meat  diet  in  a hot  climate 
must  be  responsible  for  much  of  the  disease.  Peo- 
ple who  will  take  a tablespoonful  of  tabasco  as  if 
it  wrere  a tablespoonful  of  catsup  are  addicted  to 
certain  hot  dishes  which  no  amount  of  hunger 
will  make  palatable  to  us.  If  you  mistake  the 
chiles  in  the  center  of  the  table  for  pickles  and 
try  one,  as  you  rush  for  the  pitcher  the  Filipino 
wrater  cure  appeals  to  you  as  a benign  institution. 

One  is  disinclined  to  eat  butter  ( mantequilla , 
as  it  is  called)  too  freely  after  he  has  learned  how 
it  is  made.  Some  cream  is  put  in  a skin,  and  then 
more  cream  with  each  milking  is  added  until  the 
skin  is  filled,  when  the  churning  is  done  by  the 
motion  of  the  donkey  on  the  way  to  market — 
for  Central  Americans  are  ingenious  at  labor 
saving. 

A certain  young  secretary  of  legation  was  fond 
of  tortillas  with  mantequilla.  He  and  the  consul 
of  twenty  years’  experience  ate  at  Madame 
J ’s,  whose  hospitality  I also  shared  tempo- 

rarily. The  tablecloth  was  of  a deep,  rich  brown 
tint,  into  w7hose  color  scheme  any  fresh  meat 


242 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


stain  sank  harmoniously.  On  one  occasion  the 
boarders  threw  their  stiffened  napkins  into  the 
corner,  as  a hint  for  a change.  The  hostess  put 
them  back,  and  reminded  the  offenders  that  it 
was  not  a custom  for  guests  to  throw  their  servil- 
letas  on  the  floor. 

One  evening  at  dinner  I was  spreading  a 
tortilla  with  mantequilla  when  I saw  that  some- 
thing— in  fact,  several  little  things — besides  my 
knife  was  moving.  An  examination  of  the  butter 
dish  revealed  a.mass  of  life  which  fairly  blanched 
the  secretary,  as  he  recalled  that  he  had  always  sat 
in  the  darkest  part  of  the  dining-room.  The 
wicked,  calloused  old  consul  grinned. 

“I  told  you  when  you  first  came  that  I never 
ate  butter,”  he  said.  “You  wrould  not  take  the 
warning,  and — well,  I’ve  found  that  experience 
is  the  only  teacher.” 

You  do,  however,  get  the  coffee  of  the  gods 
everywhere  in  Central  America.  On  every  table 
is  the  bottle  of  essence  which  has  dripped  from 
the  berries  without  boiling,  and  this  you  mix  as 
you  mix  the  Russian  tea  essence  with  hot  water 
in  a ratio  to  your  liking.  Rising  at  dawn  to  leave 
the  steamer,  and  again  in  the  evening,  drenched 
from  the  trail,  this  is  your  life  saver.  The  dis- 
comforts and  the  food  could  not  prevent  me  from 
wishing  to  see  more  of  Central  America  from  the 
roadside.  Of  its  skies  and  its  mountains  one  never 
tires. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-THREE 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 

'C'ROM  Texas  to  Panama  you  pass  through 
more  custom  houses  than  in  going  around 
the  world  and  home  again  by  the  way  of  England, 
Germany,  Russia  and  Japan,  and  in  every  coun- 
try" is  a different  currency  system.  The  Ameri- 
can eagle  is  the  one  dependable  traveling  com- 
panion. It  is  a modern  idol  held  in  something 
of  the  admiration  of  the  gold  idols  dug  out  of 
Indian  graves. 

As  soon  as  it  is  known  that  you  are  paying  your 
bills  in  gold  callers  begin  to  appear  at  your  hotel 
asking  if  you  have  any  to  sell.  But  if  you  should 
wish  to  buy  eagles  with  the  currency  of  the  land 
in  Nicaragua,  Honduras  or  Guatemala,  you  may 
go  from  bank  to  bank  without  being  able  to  secure 
any  at  the  day’s  rate  of  exchange,  and  the  fellows 
who  keep  the  cambio  de  moneda  shops  will  charge 
a price  startlingly  at  variance  with  what  they 
offer. 

It  is  best  to  cross  a boundary  with  your  pockets 
empty.  Whatever  you  have  left  in  the  way  of 
nickels  and  filthy  “shinplasters”  will  hardly  be 

243 


244 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


considered  worth  purchase  on  the  other  side. 
Costa  Rica  is  solidly  on  the  gold  basis,  and  so 
is  Mexico,  but  otherwise  the  backing  of  the  paper 
which  the  government  issues  is  forced  public  con- 
fidence. The  laborer  on  the  plantation  must  ac- 
cept the  official  money  as  his  wages,  and  as  labor 
has  real  value,  some  sort  of  a ratio  to  gold  is 
established  through  the  sale  of  the  country’s 
products  abroad,  with  the  flood  of  paper  ever  in- 
creasing and  the  metal  which  it  gathers  going 
to  the  credit  of  the  foreign  bank  accounts  of  the 
rulers. 

Business  is  handicapped  by  the  uncertainty  of 
the  medium ; and  contracts  among  foreigners  and 
between  foreigners  and  the  government  are  made 
in  gold  as  the  only  dependable  way  of  reckoning. 
The  rate  frequently  varies  two  or  three  points  in 
a week.  A drop  of  six  points  occurred  in  Guate- 
mala after  the  eruption  of  the  volcano  of  Santa 
Maria.  Cabrera  is  the  most  arbitrary  Presiden- 
tial financier.  When  he  saw  his  currency  depre- 
ciating with  each  new  issue,  and  all  the  silver 
leaving  Guatemala,  he  issued  a decree  that  paper 
must  be  accepted  in  payment  of  all  debts  con- 
tracted in  silver.  His  ability  to  force  obedience 
to  such  an  unjust  act  gave  him  the  confidence  to 
include  debts  in  gold  in  a second  decree.  This 
concerned  many  foreigners;  it  even  meant  ruin 
to  some.  All  the  foreign  ministers  protested  at 
once.  Our  minister,  at  the  time  Mr.  Coombs, 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 


245 


however,  concurred,  until  New  York  interests, 
which  were  concerned  in  a large  way,  appealed 
to  the  State  Department  successfully  to  the  relief 
of  smaller  interests,  which  had  spoken  in  vain; 
and  thus  Cabrera’s  plan  to  pay  bills  to  foreigners 
in  scrip,  while  he  still  received  his  export  coffee 
tax  in  gold,  was  balked.  Money  changers,  large 
and  small,  thrive  exceedingly,  but  take  care  not 
to  carry  too  heavy  a stock  of  greenbacks,  lest 
revolution,  assassination  or  a new  issue  may 
wholly  upset  the  rate. 

Whoever  is  mystified  by  the  monetary  systems 
is  advised  not  to  waste  bis  time  by  going  into  the 
history  of  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  Central 
America.  For  thirty  5rears  the  Foreign  Bond- 
holders Society  has  been  meeting  in  London  for 
grave  discussion  of  how  to  save  some  portion  of 
the  principal.  Honduras  has  the  most  brilliant 
record.  She  floated  $5,000,000  in  10  per  cents, 
in  1867,  issued  at  89,  with  which  to  build  a trans- 
continental railroad;  $12,000,000  in  6 2-3  per 
cents,  at  75  in  1869;  and  $12,000,000  in  10  per 
cents,  at  80  in  1870.  With  these  sums  she  actually 
built  57  miles  of  the  line  for  which  the  bonds  were 
issued. 

All  the  rest  of  the  money  went  into  the  pockets 
of  her  politicians  and  the  loan  agents.  By  1873 
Honduras  had  defaulted,  and  never  a cent  has 
been  paid  since.  At  present  the  total  indebted- 
ness, with  accrued  interest,  amounts  to  $100,000,- 


246 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


000,  while  the  interest  itself  on  that  sum  is  more 
than  three  times  Honduras’  total  revenue.  A 
compromise  settlement  for  $5,000,000  has  been 
offered  by  the  bondholders,  but  $5,000,000  seems 
almost  as  far  out  of  reach  as  $100,000,000  to 
Honduran  statesmen. 

Combining  the  foreign  debt  and  the  internal 
debts  and  “voluntary  loans,”  I am  sure  that,  for 
population,  Central  America,  miserably  poor  in 
all  except  natural  resources,  has  a larger  per 
capita  debt  than  Great  Britain.  It  is  sufficient 
comment  on  conditions  that  accurate  figures  may 
be  had  only  concerning  the  foreign  debt,  which 
must  be  known  abroad. 

That  of  Costa  Rica  is  $14,000,000  (with  $4,- 
•,200,000  of  unpaid  interest)  ; of  Guatemala,  $10,- 
000,000  (with  $2,500,000  of  unpaid  interest)  ; of 
Nicaragua,  $4,500,000;  of  Salvador,  $3,500,000. 
Thus,  three  Central  American  countries,  Guate- 
mala, Honduras  and  Costa  Rica,  have  continu- 
ously defaulted;  the  other  two,  Salvador  and 
Nicaragua,  have  paid  up  by  compromises  tempo- 
rarily in  order  to  borrow  more. 
i The  first  debt  contracted  was  by  the  old  Cen- 
tral American  Federation  in  1825,  when  sixes  to 
the  amount  of  $7,000,000  were  offered  in  Europe, 
and  $800,000  was  subscribed  at  an  issue  price  of 
73.  In  1840  Costa  Rica  paid  off  her  portion  on 
a basis  of  85  per  cent,  of  the  principal.  In  1860 
Salvador  compromised  on  90  per  cent,  in  cash. 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 


247 


Guatemala  defaulted  until  1856,  and  Nicaragua 
until  1877.  By  borrowing  anew  eventually  set- 
tlements were  made  by  one  compromise  or  an- 
other for  all  of  this  debt. 

Costa  Rica  has  been  the  most  successful  in 
floating  loans  because  her  credit  due  to  her  pros- 
perity is  best.  Her  per  capita  debt,  less  only  than 
that  of  France,  is  $35,  which,  at  the  same  rate, 
would  mean  a national  debt  of  $2,840,000,000  for 
the  United  States.  But  her  revenues  are  large, 
her  prospects  bright,  and  she  is  abundantly  able 
at  least  to  compromise;  and  without  a shadow  of 
excuse  to  continue  her  policy  of  repudiation. 

In  1889  Salvador  borrowed  $1,500,000  to  build 
a railroad  from  Acajutla  to  Atenas,  a distance  of 
35  miles.  Seven  miles  were  built,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  the  money  went  to  the  politicians.  In 
1899,  finding  that  the  government  railway  did 
not  pay,  she  converted  her  national  debt  into  se- 
curities of  the  Salvador  Railway  Company  by  a 
process  profitable  to  all  concerned  except  the 
bondholders,  agreeing  to  a payment  to  the  com- 
pany of  a subsidy  of  $115,000  a year.  Still  an- 
other financial  scheme  was  worked  recently,  of 
which  more  later. 

Nicaragua  in  1894,  soon  after  Zelaya  took  of- 
fice, compromised  on  her  railroad  debt  by  a re- 
duction of  the  interest  from  6 to  4 per  cent.,  and 
only  half  the  coupons  in  arrears  to  be  paid. 

In  1904  he  made  a 5 per  cent,  loan  of  $1,000,- 


248 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


000  issued  at  75,  through  New  Orleans  bankers, 
with  the  customs  as  security.  In  1908  he  tried  to 
float  a 6 per  cent,  loan  of  $6,000,000  in  Paris  on 
the  guarantee  of  his  horrible  whisky  and  tobacco 
monopolies.  With  his  palace  in  Belgium  and 
retirement  in  prospect,  every  new  loan  scheme 
which  he  could  devise  meant  a large  sum  for  his 
own  pocket. 

It  is  hopeless  and  unwarrantable  without  some 
form  of  international  guarantee  for  any  of  these 
countries  to  secure  further  foreign  loans  on 
their  credit  as  nations.  They  must  mortgage  their 
revenues.  Here  appear  the  financial  geniuses, 
almost  invariably  German- American,  who  have 
made  the  greatest  fortunes  outside  of  the  Fruit 
Company  pioneers.  Of  these  Adolphus  Stall,  of 
Guatemala,  is  the  flower. 

Recently  some  one  began  buying  up  the  bonds 
of  a certain  internal  loan  which  had  long  been 
repudiated.  When  Stall  was  asked  about  this 
he  said  it  was  strange.  He  had  heard  the  same 
news.  He  wondered  who  was  responsible.  As 
he  had  been  extolling  President  Cabrera  so  ar- 
dently as  a patriot  and  himself  as  the  original, 
simon-pure  friend  of  Guatemala,  the  listener 
could  not  help  saying: 

“Why,  you  have  been  buying  them  yourself  all 
the  way  from  16  to  40,  and  in  March  it  will  be  an- 
nounced that  they  will  be  paid  at  par  out  of  still 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 


249 


another  loan  fastened  on  coffee  exportation  at 
an  extortionate  rate  of  interest.” 

He  does  not  play  with  Peter  and  Paul  liquida- 
tion of  foreign  debts,  which  would  attract  atten- 
tion, but  finds  a higher  profit  in  internal  debts — 
and  sticks  to  his  “running  account”  with  Cabrera, 
a triumph  which  has  brought  all  other  Central 
American  financiers  to  his  feet  in  admiration  of 
the  master. 

The  “running  account”  is  one  of  the  secrets  of 
State.  No  banker  with  whom  I talked  quite 
grasped  its  method  in  detail.  But  from  what  I 
could  learn  Stall  is  in  the  position  of  one  who  is 
receiving  about  14  per  cent,  per  annum  on  his 
bank  balance.  He  loans  Cabrera  sums  against 
the  collection  of  the  annual  export  duty  on  coffee 
in  gold,  which  is  perfectly  good  security,  as  the 
collection  is  practically  in  his  hands. 

Mr.  Bloom,  in  Salvador,  has  no  “running  ac- 
count,” but  he  does  all  the  government  bond  busi- 
ness, and  in  1908  he  actually  succeeded  in  floating 
a 6 per  cent,  foreign  loan  for  $5,000,000  at  70 
to  the  agents  and  75  to  the  public.  At  first  it 
was  poorly  subscribed,  but  was  taken  up  finally 
in  London,  where  8 per  cent,  interest  is  attractive 
to  later  generations  of  investors  unfamiliar  with 
Central  American  financial  history.  It  is  not 
for  an  outsider  to  estimate  Mr.  Bloom’s  total 
profits.  A part  of  the  sum  received  went  to  the 
payment  of  old  loans,  and  the  government  re- 


250 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ceived  actually  about  $660,000,  which  went  most- 
ly to  paying  arrears  of  salaries  and  contracts  on 
the  new  palace.  Already  the  sum  is  gone.  Pretty 
soon  salaries  will  again  be  in  arrears,  and  what 
then? 

While  Mexico  spends  her  loans  on  railroads 
and  bridges  and  other  public  works  that  will  be 
an  investment  in  developing  resources,  that  is 
not  so  in  Central  America,  where  all  goes  into 
the  pockets  of  statesmen  or  to  pay  the  ordinary 
government  expenses.  Taxing  the  production 
of  coffee,  as  I have  already  pointed  out,  means 
to  Central  America  much  the  same  thing  as 
placing  a tax  on  the  export  of  wheat  or  steel  in 
our  own  countiy.  There  is  a limit — bankruptcy 
for  the  planter — which  even  the  best  coffee  lands 
in  the  world  cannot  bear;  a limit  when  no  more 
money  can  be  borrowed  even  on  that  security. 

There  remains  the  recourse  to  “voluntary 
loans”  and  internal  loans.  “Voluntary  loans”  of 
one  type  simply  represent  a demand  of  the  dic- 
tator for  a certain  sum  of  money,  which  an  in- 
dividual must  pay  or  go  to  jail.  Formal  internal 
loans  are  taken  up  by  bankers  and  individuals 
under  government  pressure.  Forced  loans  are 
public,  and  an  example  of  a call  of  this  kind  in 
the  official  language  of  Zelaya,  early  in  his  ad- 
ministration, is  worth  quoting: 

“In  prevision  of  a conflict  between  this  Repub- 
lic and  that  of  Honduras,  on  account  of  the  hostile 


In  the  plaza  of  San  Salvador  City 


Our  mules  on  the  Sierra  Road,  Honduras 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 


251 


attitude  which  the  government  of  that  nation  has 
assumed  against  Nicaragua,  and  as  it  is  absolute- 
ly necessary  to  prepare  ourselves  conveniently 
for  the  defense  of  the  national  honor  and  sov- 
ereignty, and  as  it  is  indispensable  to  secure  the 
means  necessary  for  that  purpose  by  a forced 
loan  because  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  public 
treasury  does  not  permit  their  being  taken  out 
of  the  ordinary  revenues  of  the  government,  using 
the  faculties  given  it  by  decree  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly  of  October  19,  last,  decrees: 

“1.  Let  there  be  assigned  in  the  Republic  a 
forced  loan  of  $400,000,  which  shall  be  distributed 
in  the  following  manner:  Granada,  $100,000; 

Managua,  $80,000;  Leon,  $60,000;  Carazo,  $28,- 
000;  Chinandega,  $24,000;  Rivas,  $24,000;  Ma- 
saya,  $20,000;  Matagalpa,  $18,000;  N.  Segovia, 
$14,000;  Chontales,  $12,000;  Jinotega,  $10,000; 
Esteli,  $10,000— total,  $400,000. 

“2.  The  collection  of  the  present  loan  shall  be 
made  by  the  authorities,  and  the  respective  pre- 
fects shall  name  the  assigning  committees.  The 
repayment  to  the  voluntary  lenders  shall  be  made 
in  the  form  and  with  the  profits  determined  in  the 
decree  No.  3 of  last  August. 

“3.  The  distributing  committees  shall  be  guid- 
ed in  the  assignment  of  the  contribution  by 
Article  6 of  the  decree  of  the  Constituent  Assem- 
bly of  October  19,  already  mentioned,  which  ex- 


252 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


empts  from  loans  those  owning  less  than  $5,000 
besides  their  dvrelling-house. 

“4.  Lenders  who  shall  not  make  their  payments 
within  the  dates  mentioned  in  Article  1 of  this 
decree  shall  be  obliged  to  lend  double  the  amount 
assigned  to  them ; and  they  shall  be  paid  by  notes 
at  two  years’  time,  earning  only  6 per  cent,  an- 
nually. 

“5.  The  prefects  shall  publish  immediately  the 
present  decree,  which  shall  be  in  force  from  this 
date,  proceeding  to  the  organization  of  the  com- 
mittees for  compliance  therewith.” 

The  “voluntary  lenders”  never  saw  principal 
or  interest,  unless,  for  one  reason  or  another,  they 
could  make  repayment  an  object  to  Zelaya.  A 
favorite  method  of  meeting  bills,  for  which  mer- 
chandise has  been  actually  delivered  or  service 
rendered,  is  to  give  bonds  of  the  face  value  of  the 
amount  due. 

When  I told  a certain  business  man  that  I 
would  like  to  see  one  of  these  bonds  he  put  his 
hand  in  a drawer  and  said:  “Certainly.  I’ll 

make  you  a present  of  this.  You  can  see  for  your- 
self what  it  is  nominally  worth,  with  interest  ac- 
crued. Of  course,  no  interest  has  been  paid.  I’d 
like  to  sell  you  a bale  of  dliem  for  five  cents 
apiece.” 

Government  statistics  rarely  take  any  account 
of  them.  The  financial  responsibility  of  the  Presi- 
dent consists  of  making  up  a so-called  budget. 


MONEY  AND  FINANCE 


253 


which  is  submitted  to  Congress,  with  Congress 
having  no  real  power  of  audit,  let  alone  of  appro- 
priation. It  is  largely  fictitious — so  much  for 
the  army  and  the  other  departments,  which  may 
have  gone  into  the  pockets  of  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet  or  to  the  maintenance  of  his  expensive 
spy  system. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-FOUR! 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 

"V7"  OU  are  back  to  the  beaten  route  of  travel 
and  in  the  realm  of  American  energy  at 
Puerto  Limon,  Costa  Rica,  where  the  Fruit  Com- 
pany is  king.  My  last  run  on  the  west  coast  had 
been  on  a German  steamer  and  my  first  run  on 
the  east  coast  was  to  be  on  another.  But  the  con- 
trast between  an  eighteen-knotter  of  twelve  hun- 
dred tons  and  the  itinerant  gatherer  of  cargo  ply- 
ing from  Hamburg  to  Seattle  and  return  was 
that  of  the  Pullman  and  the  stage  coach. 

The  train  ride  from  Puenta  Arenas  to  Puerto 
Limon  over  the  divide  bridges  the  busy  world 
of  the  Atlantic,  with  its  trading  population  of 
Europe  and  America,  and  the  quieter  world  of 
the  Pacific.  Up  the  gangway  and  you  seemed 
out  of  Central  America.  The  luxury  was  fairly 
overpowering.  After  weeks  without  iced  drinks 
they  were  a shock  to  the  system.  The  men  in 
the  smoking-room  had  an  exotic  air  of  fairly 
boastful  prosperity;  the  head  steward,  blond  mus- 
tache at  an  angle,  overlooking  the  march  of  the 
passengers  to  their  places  according  to  card  in 

254 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 


255 


the  dining-room,  where  silver  gleamed  on  sheets 
of  snow,  seemed  a princely  being. 

And  the  big  white  napkins!  And  no  more 
frijoles  and  tortillas!  You  missed  the  frijoles, 
and  with  regret  realized  that  there  would  soon  be 
an  end  of  the  alligator  pears,  except  at  fifty  cents 
apiece  for  pulp  which  had  lost  its  taste.  The 
silvered  steam  pipes  in  your  cabin  reminded  you 
that  soon  you  would  be  living  behind  closed  doors. 
And  that  cabin  steward  appeared  instantly  you 
touched  a button,  with  a perfectly  willing  air! 
And  an  expanse  of  clean  bath  towel  and  the 
wasteful  generosity  of  two  or  three  hand  towrels! 
I was  fortunate  to  begin  my  return  to  old  habits 
gradually  in  the  Caribbean.  One  of  those  palaces 
with  elevators  and  cafes  that  cross  the  Atlantic 
wrould  have  been  too  abrupt  a transformation. 

As  for  those  gentlemen  in  the  smoking-room, 
literally  chewing  ice  as  they  complained  about 
the  food  and  talked  dollars  on  a gold  basis  by  the 
millions,  let  them  take  a ride  across  Honduras, 
stopping  at  the  local  inns,  if  they  would  know 
that  a shade  of  difference  in  the  rareness  of  roast 
beef  is  a vanity  of  civilization.  No  danger!  It 
is  enough  for  them  to  touch  at  the  ports  of  terra 
incognita.  Perhaps  twTenty  years  from  now  it 
will  be  another  story,  and  they  will  be  discussing 
which  place  in  the  highlands  they  like  best  or 
winch  has  the  best  hotel. 

But  wre  were  not  through  with  Central  Amer- 


256 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ica  yet.  In  the  morning  we  were  at  Colon,  and 
there  was  still  another  customs  examination  by 
brown  officialdom  in  blue  jeans.  For  Colon  is 
in  the  Republic  of  Panama,  and  the  little  repub- 
lic’s authority  sits  proudly  on  the  pier  at  the 
gateway  to  American  enterprise.  My  battered 
trunk  was  officially  passed  in  the  course  of  time ; 
and  then  one  who  had  known  Colon  in  1903  saw 
Colon  six  years  later. 

In  1903  the  President  of  the  United  States 
played  the  greedy  conqueror,  crushing  the  weak 
under  his  mailed  fist,  and  John  Hay  was  party 
to  the  scandal.  We  desired  to  spend  some  hun- 
dreds of  millions,  four  at  least,  in  digging  a canal 
which  was  to  serve  the  commerce  of  the  whole 
world.  For  generations  the  people  of  the  Panama 
region  had  been  rebelling  ineffectually  against 
Colombia,  which  gave  them  over  to  the  extortion 
of  jefes  sent  down  from  Bogota.  In  vain  we 
tried  to  negotiate  any  reasonable  treaty  with  the 
sister  republic,  which  would  not  be  free  from 
European  assault  but  for  our  protection,  and  the 
sister  republic  kept  coquetting  with  Germany, 
which  is  such  a good  friend  of  weak,  mismanaged 
States,  and  playing  every  trick  bred  of  ladino 
politics. 

So  we  recognized  a revolution  which  won  the 
Panamans  freedom  from  a rule  in  which  they 
were  taxed  without  representation.  People  who 
hold  our  Declaration  of  Independence  dear  said 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 


257 


their  worst  about  President  Roosevelt,  who  has 
saved  us  thousands  of  lives,  millions  of  dollars, 
and  perhaps  the  shame  of  failure  before  the  na- 
tions of  the  world. 

All  we  asked  for  ourselves  was  that  a zone  ten 
miles  broad,  which  grew  a few  bananas,  should 
be  under  our  sovereignty  in  order  that  its  sani- 
tation might  not  be  controlled  by  such  men  as 
General  Medina.  (See  Chapter  Fifteen.)  For 
this  we  gave  $10,000,000  outright  to  the  little 
Republic  of  Panama,  and  with  it  went  an  an- 
nuity of  $250,000  in  perpetuity  for  territory  of 
which  it  could  make  no  use.  A nuisance  stood 
in  the  pathway  of  progress,  and  we  were  willing 
to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  removing  it.  Our 
scrupulousness,  which  amuses  the  Panamans,  is 
a tribute  to  the  abstract  sense  of  justice  of  Ameri- 
can public  opinion.  We  took  care  to  include  no 
centers  of  population  in  our  domain.  So  Colon 
and  Panama,  the  towns  at  either  terminus  of  the 
old  railway,  were  excluded. 

In  1903  Colon  was  a sink  of  sewage,  with  some 
filthy  saloons  and  money  changers’  booths  and 
a few  shops.  Nothing  worse  existed  anywhere 
in  Central  America.  Now  you  walk  off  the  pier 
on  to  paved  and  sewered  streets — paved  and 
sewered  as  a part  of  the  contract  made  by  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  and  his  inexcusable  abettors,  Mr. 
Hay  and  Mr.  Root — among  stores  and  hotels 
which  flourish  as  the  result  of  our  coming.  Only 


258 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


a few  rods  and  you  are  in  the  region  of  the  Canal 
storehouses,  shops  and  residences  under  our  au- 
thority. 

The  City  of  Panama  on  the  Pacific  side  is 
paved  and  Mrell  lighted;  her  new  government 
palace  includes  an  ornate  theater,  where  subsi- 
dized companies  play;  residences  of  the  well-to- 
do  and  tenements  have  risen  in  the  town  and 
suburbs;  business  thrives;  real  estate  soars,  and 
a long  street,  with  new  buildings  on  either  side, 
has  taken  the  place  of  a muddy  road  with  a few 
mean  shacks  on  the  main  drive  from  the  Canal 
colony  of  Ancon  to  the  heart  of  the  town. 

Across  that  barrier  between  the  seas — thriving 
in  the  days  when  it  was  the  pathway  of  the  car - 
gadores,  thriving  again,  with  the  taint  of  its 
unsanitary  breath  bringing  death  to  the  laborers, 
under  De  Lesseps,  and  then  sinking  into  mori- 
bundity  except  for  revolutions  till  we  came — is 
a narrow  belt  of  ordered  industry  working  to  the 
tune  of  the  rattle  of  dirt-cars  and  the  coughing 
spells  of  the  steam-shovels  under  an  autocrat, 
Colonel  Goethals.  It  has  its  own  schools,  houses, 
barracks  and  kitchens,  and  feeds  itself  on  an  army 
system. 

The  skepticism  of  those  who  said  that  the 
Canal  diggers  would  die  like  flies  is  a forgotten 
incident  of  the  early  days.  Labor  agents  havq 
long  since  been  withdrawn  from  abroad.  The 
problem  becomes  one  of  choice  of  applicants. 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 


259 


You  hear  people  speak  of  the  Isthmus  as  a 
healthy  place  to  live,  thanks  to  the  effect  of  mod- 
ern sanitary  regulations  and  precautions.  The 
old  contention  that  the  Caucasian  would  succumb 
from  malaria  and  sunstroke  if  he  did  manual 
labor  in  the  tropics  is  disproved  by  the  Gallegos 
and  Italians,  who  seem  to  he  none  the  worse  for 
their  day  on  the  dumps  at  Gatun  than  in  a West- 
ern railroad  construction  camp.  Success  has 
made  the  accomplishment  of  Dr.  W.  C.  Gorgas 
seem  easy.  But  it  is  primarily  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  full  authority  in  the  beginning  to 
apply  all  necessary  measures,  without  continual 
interference  by  the  officials  of  a ladino  satrapy. 

The  Panamans  continue  to  complain.  They 
know  the  weakness  of  our  public.  If  they  cry 
out  that  they  are  being  treated  badly,  opinion  at 
home  will  rise  to  their  support.  They  say  that 
our  commissary  is  ruining  business  in  Colon  by 
supplying  foodstuffs  from  refrigerator  ships  to 
all  employees.  This  trade  ought  to  go  to  the  local 
storekeepers,  who  are  foreigners — Americans, 
Germans,  French,  Italians.  Their  prosperity, 
however,  means  taxes  for  the  treasury. 

Most  of  the  original  Panamans  who  are  at  all 
educated  hold  office.  The  plethora  of  officials, 
and  particularly  of  policemen — eight  hundred  in 
the  small  communities  of  Colon  and  Panama  to 
do  the  work  that  ought  to  be  done  by  a hundred 
at  most — is  significant  of  tendencies  when  unre- 


260 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


strained.  Then,  too,  the  saloons  do  not  thrive  as 
they  should,  considering  the  number  of  the  Canal 
employees  and  their  good  wages.  The  Ameri- 
cans in  the  Zone  have  their  own  places  of  amuse- 
ment, and  they  have  learned  the  folly  of  drinking 
intoxicants  in  a hot  country,  even  if  the  engineers 
did  not  disapprove  of  it  in  a way  that  means  dis- 
charge for  a continuation  of  the  offense. 

The  vagaries  of  Panaman  legal  practice  is  an- 
other deterrent.  Not  long  ago  an  American  con- 
ductor, arrested  for  forcibly  ejecting  a Panaman 
from  a train,  employed  a Panaman  lawyer,  who 
drew  his  fee,  filed  a petition  with  the  court,  and 
the  next  thing  that  the  conductor  knew  he  was 
sentenced  to  three  years  in  prison  without  trial 
or  provision  for  a rehearing,  while  the  President 
of  Panama  has  not  the  power  of  pardon. 

So  far  have  our  customs  changed  since  the  days 
of  our  army’s  first  occupation  of  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico  that,  generally  speaking,  it  is  the  Panaman 
rather  than  the  American  who  is  truculent.  If 
the  employee  gets  into  trouble  across  the  bound- 
ary he  receives  little  sympathy  from  his  superior, 
who  asks  him  what  business  he  had  over  in  the 
saloon  region,  anyway.  Indeed,  the  conduct  of 
the  Zone  force,  which  has  steadily  improved  in 
quality  by  elimination,  is  above  reproach ; a 
tribute  to  the  good  sense  and  good  humor  of  the 
better  element  of  working  Americans  under  dis- 
cipline. 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 


261 


There  have  been  a number  of  outrages  on  in- 
dividuals by  the  abundant  policemen,  where  jus- 
tice might  well  have  demanded  some  action  as  a 
warning  that  there  must  be  a limit  to  baiting  the 
Gringo.  Mr.  Taft’s  policy,  which  permeates 
every  department,  always  gives  the  Panaman  the 
advantage  of  the  doubt.  He  has  been  the  con- 
siderate nurse  of  the  little  republic,  and  we  give 
way  on  minor  points. 

In  its  work  of  remunerating  the  property  own- 
ers for  lands  occupied  for  the  Gatun  Lake,  the 
Zone  legal  department  settled  with  many  pri- 
vately for  $5  a hectare  for  unimproved  land. 

A commission,  half  American,  half  Panaman, 
was  appointed  to  settle  for  the  rest.  Evidently 
the  orders  to  the  American  members  were  to  finish 
up  the  work  some  way  or  other  without  offense. 
They  paid  in  the  end  from  $200  to  $600  for  un- 
improved property,  a most  exorbitant  price.  We 
had  been  fair,  no  matter  what  the  cost. 

Yet  the  Panamans  did  not  forget  their  habit 
and  cried  for  more.  They  grow  restless  when 
they  think  of  the  $6,000,000  residue  of  the  origi- 
nal $10,000,000  in  interest-bearing  securities  de- 
posited in  New  York;  of  a current  account  in 
New  York  amounting  to  over  a million,  which 
wre  watch  with  paternal  care.  They  would  like 
opera  the  year  round,  and  circuses  and  roof  gar- 
dens, and  everybody’s  brother,  cousin  and  father- 
in-law  in  office. 


263 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Mr.  Taft,  always  so  punctilious  about  Pana- 
ma’s sovereignty,  is  not  incapable  of  a “No;”  and 
the  Panaman  has  learned  that  his  “No”  is  a real 
“No.”  There  are  certain  things  of  vital  principle, 
such  as  not  squandering  their  surplus,  which  they 
must  not  do,  and  certain  things,  too,  which  they 
must  do. 

In  their  recent  Presidential  campaign  we  gave 
them  a first  lesson  in  self-government,  which 
ought  to  bear  fruit.  Ricardo  Arias,  the  cleverest 
lawyer  in  Panama,  was  the  candidate  of  the  Ama- 
dor faction,  or  the  “ins.”  His  plan  was  to  use 
the  power  of  office  and  the  police  to  hold  a dum- 
my election  and  declare  himself  chosen.  Jose 
Obaldia,  his  Liberal  opponent,  was  popular  with 
the  masses,  though  not  with  the  “ins.”  No  one 
thought  he  had  any  chance  of  winning  until  we 
concluded  that  the  election  should  be  a real  one. 

The  same  government — ours — which  was  so 
careful  that  the  property  holders  of  the  Gatun 
basin  should  get  full  value  for  their  land,  now 
sent  two  representatives  of  the  Zone  legal  depart- 
ment, some  of  whom  had  to  travel  a week,  to  every 
polling  precinct,  to  see  that  an  actual  list  of 
voters  was  made.  Then  Arias  withdrew. 

The  Liberals  did  not  fail  to  make  the  best  of 
their  success.  In  three  months  700  Conservative 
policemen  out  of  the  800  employed  had  been  dis- 
missed to  make  room  for  Liberal  policemen,  and 


PANAMA  UNDER  TUTELAGE 


263 


the  number  of  police  sergeants  had  been  increased 
from  twenty  to  forty-six. 

In  order  to  gratify  the  workers  of  the  higher 
world,  a minister  and  two  secretaries  are  main- 
tained in  Paris,  and  a minister  and  one  secretary 
in  London,  with  absolutely  nothing  to  do.  The 
minister  to  Great  Britain  was  allowed  to  design 
his  own  uniform.  He  made  a combination  of  the 
dress  uniform  of  a full  admiral,  a field  marshal 
and  an  ambassador.  Why  not?  The  time  has 
come  for  these  young  nations  to  showr  the  old  ones 
what  a waste  of  opportunity  it  is  to  limit  oneself 
in  the  matter  of  gold  lace  by  anything  except 
your  carrying  capacity  when  you  have  the  money 
to  buy  it  by  the  rod. 

Panaman  society,  with  its  subsidized  operahouse 
(built  out  of  the  $10,000,000)  and  its  balls,  en- 
acting the  Latin  world  in  miniature,  rather  looks 
down  on  those  brusque  ditch-diggers  rushing 
about  impolitely.  But  put  the  question  in  an- 
swer to  their  complaints:  “How  would  you  like 
to  return  to  Colombian  sovereignty  and  the  old 
days?”  and  they  admit  that  they  could  not  think 
of  it. 

They  are  learning  to  like  pavements  and  water- 
works and  sanitation — although  they  do  not  see 
why  we  should  not  pay  all  the  taxes  for  the  up- 
keep— and  if  one  of  them  happens  to  go  to 
Corinto  or  Cartagena  he  finds  that  the  new  cus- 
toms have  made  certain  insanitary  odors,  to  which 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


264 

he  was  once  habituated,  offensive.  Their  school 
system  is  yielding  results  in  the  youth,  and  gen- 
erations to  come  may  thank  us  for  what  we  have 
done. 

And  the  prosperity,  the  order,  and  the  clean- 
liness all  proceed  from  the  guiding  hand  which 
has  pointed  the  way  through  the  primer  stage. 
What  will  happen  when  the  army  of  workers  on 
the  Canal  break  camp?  When  the  storekeepers 
no  longer  dip  into  the  stream  of  American 
dollars? 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-FIVE 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


HY  do  so  many  missionaries  go  to  Japan, 


China,  India,  Turkey  and  Korea,  and 
so  few  to  Central  America?  They  are  as  in- 
conspicuous in  the  country  between  the  Guate- 
malan border  and  Panama  as  they  are  conspicu- 
ous elsewhere. 

Partiality  for  distant  lands  cannot  explain  their 
neglect,  for  Alaska  is  most  abundantly  supplied. 
Is  it  possible  that  the  soul  of  a Cordilleran  Indian 
in  25  cents’  worth  of  cotton  drill  is  less  worth  sav- 
ing than  the  soul  of  an  Aleut  in  furs?  Latitude 
cannot  matter,  else  the  Fiji  Islands,  which  have 
been  well  cared  for,  would  be  under  the  ban. 

Any  excuse  that  Central  America  is  already  a 
Christian  country  is  inconsistent,  if  not  otherwise 
untenable.  Mexico  is  a favorite  field,  and  Mexico 
is  a Christian  country — far  more  Christian  than 
Guatemala  or  Nicaragua.  Although  the  Mexi- 
can State  has  made  war  on  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  the  Mexican  peon  is  a most  devout  re- 
ligionist, reverent  and  superstitious. 

All  the  missionaries  in  Mexico,  where  the  gov- 


265 


266 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ernment  is  doing  much  for  education,  are  most 
enthusiastic  over  their  schools  and  their  work  in 
spreading  the  English  language.  They  are  also 
trying  to  teach  the  Mexican  Indian  that  when  a 
man  and  a woman  live  together  and  rear  a family 
of  children  a marriage  ceremony  is  a praiseworthy 
prologue. 

It  is  the  woman  who  objects  to  this  convention, 
and  not  wholly  for  the  sake  of  saving  the  fee  to 
spend  it  in  shopping.  She  is  acting  out  of  the 
experience  of  her  sex  with  the  male  kind  in  her 
own  country.  If  her  husband  is  tied  to  her  by  a 
contract  she  cannot  dismiss  him  when  she  pleases 
and  take  another  who  is  a better  provider.  The 
majority  of  couples,  though  unmarried,  live  to- 
gether as  virtuously  as  if  they  really  had  the  knot 
tied.  Only  when  they  learn  English  do  they  learn 
what  a virtuous  thing  of  itself  the  knot  is.  And 
south  of  the  Mexican  border,  where  the  Church 
has  lost  influence,  ideas  are  not  only  more  lax, 
but  less  moral. 

Mention  Central  America  to  the  missionary 
in  Mexico  and  he  looks  blank.  You  almost  ex- 
pect him  to  ask  where  Central  America  is.  It 
seems  a wilderness  to  the  missionary  boards  for 
the  same  reason  that  the  American  sees  it  only  as 
a source  of  humor.  A cynical  trader  of  Hon- 
duras explained  that  the  missionary  has  no  in- 
terest in  hot  countries  where  the  male  inhabitants 
had  learned  to  wear  trousers  and  the  women  a 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


m 


Mother  Hubbard.  The  pioneering  work  is  fin- 
ished with  such  an  expansion  of  the  breech-clout 
or  with  the  greater  progress  represented  when 
there  was  not  even  a breech-clout  to  begin  with. 

To  me,  however,  the  absence  of  missionaries  in 
numbers  wras  deplorable.  The  modern  mission- 
ary wiio  founds  little  communities  in  foreign 
countries  where  the  humanities  and  hygienics 
are  taught  is  a spreader  of  civilization  regardless 
of  his  creed.  For  every  one  of  him  in  Japan,  that 
learned  progress  for  itself,  and  in  China,  that  is 
learning  for  itself,  there  ought  to  be  a hundred 
in  this  field  at  our  door,  that  cannot  learn  for 
itself. 

There  is  not  a single  Methodist  worker  in  Cen- 
tral America;  there  was  not  even  one  Protestant 
worker  of  any  sort  except  at  Belize,  Honduras, 
wrhichis  British  territory,  until  1882,  when  Presi- 
dent Kufino  Barrios,  as  a matter  of  Liberal  poli- 
tics in  his  w^ar  on  the  Catholic  Church,  sent  an 
invitation  to  the  Presbyterian  Board,  wrhich  re- 
sponded by  sending  the  Rev.  John  Clark  Hill  and 
his  wife,  who  had  to  flee  the  country  after  Barillas 
came  into  powder.  Afterward  a successor  came, 
and  the  mission  still  continues  in  a half-hearted 
fashion  in  strange  contrast  to  the  enormous  field. 
Of  late,  the  American  Bible  Society  has  shown 
some  interest.  In  1908  its  colporteurs  distributed 
2,425  Bibles  in  Central  America  and  Panama, 
exclusive  of  Nicaragua,  from  which  they  were 


268 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


barred  by  Zelaya ; but  Cabrera,  who  is  as  violent 
against  the  Catholic  Church  as  Barrios  was,  wel- 
comed the  agent,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hayter.  The  op- 
pressed Indians  of  Guatemala,  and  particularly 
of  Salvador,  exhibited  real  interest.  The  Costa 
Rican  government  said  permission  to  circulate 
religious  literature  was  no  more  necessary  in  that 
country  than  in  the  United  States,  but  the  Costa 
Ricans,  who  are  good  Catholics  and  enjoy  popular 
education  and  free  institutions,  were  rather  luke- 
warm about  a new  type  of  Christianity.  After 
our  mission  teachers  have  been  going  about  the 
world  translating  the  gospels  into  African  and 
Asiatic  dialects  it  remained  for  the  Central 
American  Mission,  a new  institution,  with  its 
headquarters  in  Paris,  Texas,  actually  to  put  St. 
Mark  into  the  tongue  of  the  Quiches,  which  is 
that  of  an  ancient  American  civilization.  So  we 
do  make  progress.  On  the  Nicaraguan  coast  the 
German  Moravians  combined  evangelization  and 
rubber  trading  in  such  a way  that  Zelaya  allowed 
them  to  remain. 

There  you  have  the  sum  of  all  that  has  been 
done.  Is  the  neglect  due  to  absence  of  results? 
Hardly,  considering  the  amount  of  missionary 
service  it  takes  to  get  one  Mohammedan  convert 
in  Asia  Minor.  Hardly,  when  the  Salvadorians 
welcome  the  simple  distribution  of  Bibles.  Can 
the  reason  be  that  Japan  is  more  picturesque? 
That  the  servants  ki  China  are  better?  That  one 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


269 


who  returns  from  Burmah  is  more  of  a hero  at 
the  missionary  meetings  than  if  he  were  back  from 
Guatemala? 

Yet  the  Roman  Catholics  have  sent  American 
priests — and  worthy  men  they  are — to  take  the 
place  of  the  Spanish  friars  in  the  Philippines, 
and  the  boards  have  sent  Protestant  clergy  to 
the  Philippines,  where  they  are  far  less  needed 
than  in  Central  America. 

The  truth  is  that  even  in  China  and  Turkey 
governmental  conditions  are  more  favorable. 
Central  America  is  Central  America.  It  is  the 
bad  lands.  The  lone  missionary  who  is  sent  down 
on  trial,  as  the  first  Presbyterian  was,  finds  him- 
self disheartened  by  political  conditions.  And 
what  can  he  do?  A protest  in  China  has  effect. 
But  if  he  “made  trouble”  in  a Central  American 
country  his  converts  would  be  singled  out  for 
secret  punishment  by  the  jefes,  under  Presidents 
who  have  enjoyed  an  immunity  from  diplomatic 
pressure  which  would  seem  idyllic  to  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey. 

Only  satire  would  call  Central  America  Chris- 
tian to-day.  Once  it  was  Christian,  but  now  its 
masses  are  lapsing  into  paganism,  even  as  the 
Haitian  negroes  have  lapsed  into  African  voo- 
dooism.  The  history  of  the  Church  here  is,  broad- 
ly, its  history  in  the  Philippines  and  other  Span- 
ish-American  countries.  The  priests  who  came 
with  the  conquerors  settled  the  Indians  on  the 


270 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


land  and  taught  them  agriculture  and  religion. 
When  the  movement  against  Spain  culminated 
in  La  Libertad  of  the  16th  of  September,  which 
is  the  Fourth  of  July  south  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
the  Church  was  regarded  in  many  quarters  as  a 
part  of  the  oppression.  But  in  Mexico  the 
martyr  of  independence  was  a heroic  priest  Hidal- 
go, who  first  raised  the  banner  of  rebellion  and 
was  excommunicated  for  his  act. 

To  his  career  is  due  largely  the  attitude  of  the 
Mexican  toward  Church  and  State.  A man 
could  still  be  a good  priest  and  fight  the  politics 
of  the  Archbishop.  The  peon  who  applauded 
Diaz’  outright  confiscation  of  Church  property 
and  destruction  of  the  Church’s  temporal  power 
is  nevertheless  the  most  devout  of  Roman  Catho- 
lics— a Hidalgo  Catholic. 

Undoubtedly  the  Church  was  on  the  side  of 
Spain.  Later,  its  influence  was  with  the  Con- 
servatives, who  represented  the  well-to-do,  the 
land  holders,  and  the  old  Spanish  element,  which 
sought  to  rule  by  force  of  intellect  and  inherited 
position,  but  fell  through  its  own  factions  and  un- 
worthiness, and  is  now  engulfed  by  the  “liberal- 
ism,” so-called,  of  the  Zelayas  and  the  Cabreras — 
of  the  man  who  can  gather  a band  of  soldiers  and 
capture  the  capital,  which  he  holds  as  long  as  he 
can,  or  until  his  fortune  is  made.  And  the  van- 
dal play  of  this  new  class  of  leaders  on  public 
opinion,  so  far  as  there  is  any  public  opinion,  was 


Pure-blooded  Indians  of  the  mountains 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


271 


against  the  Church  and  the  well-to-do,  whose 
wealth  they  would  despoil. 

In  Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Nicaragua  the 
priesthood  has  fallen  into  the  lowest  state  of  any 
countries  in  Christendom  not  in  the  Caribbean 
region.  The  bayonet  no  longer  considers  it  as 
a factor  to  be  reckoned  with.  It  has  neither 
political  power  nor  religious  power  of  any  ac- 
count. 

If  you  are  looking  for  real  church  ruins  go  to 
Central  America.  Many  churches  are  disused, 
and  those  that  are  not  are  almost  invariably  in 
disrepair.  The  people,  poverty  stricken  and 
hopeless,  take  little  interest  in  them.  Religious 
ideas  are  dying,  and  with  them  moral  ideas.  A 
settled  indifference  of  day-by-day  existence  char- 
acterizes the  masses,  who  are  reverting  to  Indian 
superstition.  Whatever  support  there  is  for  re- 
ligion comes  from  the  women  of  the  better  classes. 

In  morals  the  people  have  the  examples  of  their 
leaders.  Your  hopeful  politician  in  a Central 
American  country,  usually  a lawyer,  regards  him- 
self as  an  “intellectual.”  His  views  of  life  are 
formed  on  all  the  faults  of  Latin  civilization, 
which  are  so  frequently  and  wrongly  mistaken 
for  Latin  standards.  His  ambition  is  any  gov- 
ernment position  or  revolutionary  opportunity 
that  may  win  one. 

Gradually  the  old  Spanish  element  is  being 
driven  to  the  wall;  the  old  families  are  being 


272 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ruined;  their  heads  persecuted  and  assassinated. 
Among  the  masses  Spanish  courtesy,  which 
makes  a Mexican  peon  a knight,  is  disappearing. 
Added  to  the  Indian  blood  and  the  buccaneer 
strain  is  the  infiltration  of  negro  blood,  especially 
predominant  on  the  east  coast  of  Nicaragua  and 
Honduras.  The  Indian  strain  is  purest  in  Guate- 
mala. Some  of  the  mountain  tribes  have  never 
been  civilized,  though  they  are  within  three  days 
of  New  Orleans,  and  they  are  better  off  than  the 
ones  who  were  Christians  and  have  lapsed  into 
paganism. 

On  paper  much  is  done  for  education.  But 
that  is  to  be  expected  in  countries  with  consti- 
tutions forbidding  confiscation,  when  confisca- 
tion is  regularly  practiced,  with  constitutions  that 
most  amply  protect  the  rights  of  its  citizens  when 
execution  without  trial  is  frequent.  Everything 
to  which  free  and  independent  nations  are  en- 
titled the  military  despots  are  bound  to  have. 
Frequently  they  amend  the  constitutions  in  order 
to  make  them  more  liberal.  They  make  progress- 
ive laws  without  any  thought  that  laws  are  made 
to  be  obeyed. 

All  the  glowing  reports  of  progress  which  are 
sent  to  the  United  States  indicate  a desire  to  be 
in  style.  When  the  dictator  tells  you  that  school 
attendance  is  compulsory  he  is  being  polite.  He 
knows  that  it  is  so  in  your  country.  If  you  were 
equally  polite  you  would  say  out  of  compliment 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


273 


to  the  customs  of  his  country  that  Mr.  Taft  had 
secretly  had  Mr.  Bryan  tied  up  by  the  thumbs 
and  made  him  confess  he  was  still  for  free  silver 
at  heart. 

When  you  examine  the  compulsory  system 
more  closely  you  see  that  it  is  suspended  indefi- 
nitely, like  the  Constitution.  But  by  this  it  must 
not  be  implied  that  education  is  altogether  neg- 
lected. The  sons  of  people  with  any  means  at  all 
go  to  private  schools,  where  they  learn  more 
French  than  science,  while  fewer  go  abroad  on 
account  of  the  general  impoverishment.  Capable 
as  they  are  of  better  things,  the  military  and 
political  system  demoralizes  them. 

Every  capital  has  some  form  of  institution 
which  is  called  a university,  inferior  to  its  pre- 
independence days,  where  the  teaching  is  of  the 
old-fashioned  Spanish  style.  These  universities 
bestow  degrees  as  liberally  as  the  army  makes 
generals.  You  meet  doctors  of  letters  and 
philosophy  at  every  turn.  One  President  was 
introduced  to  me  as  “His  Excellency,  President, 
General,  Doctor,  Lawyer ” 

Every  country  has  a few  of  the  lawyer  class, 
who  speak  English  and  French  well.  These  are 
sent  abroad,  particularly  to  the  States,  as  pleni- 
potentiaries to  exert  their  imagination  in  telling 
of  progress  which  does  not  exist ; or  they  may  be 
called  in  to  write  a report  for  foreign  consump- 


274 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


tion,  which  will  mention  everything  that  we  think 
ought  to  be  as  a thing  that  is.  The  gifts  of  the 
ladinos  (half-breeds)  or  the  mestizos,  as  they  were 
called  in  the  Philippines,  in  this  respect,  the  late 
Bishop  Potter  learned  to  appreciate.  In  the 
early  days  of  our  occupation  he  was  a strong 
“anti-expansionist.”  He  had  letters  from  Fili- 
pino leaders,  worthy  in  their  diction  and  their 
high  ideals  of  the  world’s  greatest  exponents  of 
constitutional  liberty.  This  style  of  correspond- 
ence was  highly  convincing  to  the  late  Senator 
Hoar,  a man  of  the  same  distinctive  nobility  of 
mind  and  optimism  as  the  bishop.  After  the 
bishop  had  been  in  the  Philippines  for  a short 
time  he  concluded  that  the  essential  basis  of  char- 
acter necessary  to  stable  and  enlightened  govern- 
ment did  not  always  accompany  a convincing 
epistolary  style,  and  with  that  outspoken  moral 
courage  characteristic  of  him  he  changed  his  atti- 
tude on  the  subject. 

As  a basis  for  republican  institutions  consider 
that  at  least  80  per  cent,  of  the  Central  Ameri- 
cans cannot  read  a line  of  print!  If  they  could, 
what  would  they  have  to  read?  No  newspaper 
may  print  anything  but  praise  of  the  dictator. 
Little  literature  is  circulated  except  government 
proclamations.  No  knowledge  of  the  outside 
world  is  spread. 

Barbarism,  enervated  by  certain  civilized 
forms,  without  barbarism’s  vigor,  tells  all  in  a 


MORAL  CONDITIONS 


275 


word.  Scenes  of  disgust  I might  repeat  to  the 
point  of  nausea;  utter  lack  of  sanitation,  of  care 
of  body  as  well  as  of  mind,  expose  a scrofulous 
people  to  all  the  tropical  diseases,  which  keep  the 
death  list  pretty  well  balanced  with  the  birth 
rate. 

One  who  was  in  the  Philippines  early  enough 
to  see  something  of  pre-American  conditions 
knows  that  the  rule  which  the  Philippines  knew 
under  Spain  and  that  of  the  old  Kingdom  of 
Guatemala  was  better  than  that  of  the  Central 
American  countries  to-day;  and  a journey  along 
Philippine  roads  showed  far  more  evidences  of 
prosperity  than  I saw  south  of  the  Mexican  bor- 
der, particularly  in  Honduras  and  Nicaragua. 

The  Spanish  captain-general  ruled  under  laws 
which  he  could  not  altogether  defy;  and  excellent 
laws  they  were  for  personal  colonial  government, 
founded  on  the  same  basis  as  English  rule  in 
India  to-day,  under  which,  as  early  as  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  rights  of  the  natives  were  care- 
fully safeguarded.  Personal  corruption,  not  the 
laws,  brought  ruin  to  the  empire.  In  Turkey  the 
Pasha  works  under  the  Moslem  Code;  in  China 
the  viceroy  is  under  a check  of  public  opinion, 
which  exerts  itself  in  many  ways.  But  in  Central 
America  the  dictator  goes  on  the  principle  that 
every  law  is  a form  as  long  as  his  army  can  keep 
him  in  office. 


276 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Meanwhile,  the  missionaries  look  past  the  fields 
thick  with  ignorance  and  unbelief,  to  China  and 
India  and  Africa,  where  the  missionary  teaches 
everything  from  hygiene  to  morals — everything 
that  Central  America  lacks. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-SIX 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE 

rpHE  policy  of  the  United  States  regarding 
A Latin  America  is  founded  on  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  formulated  ninety  years  ago.  How 
many  Americans  have  really  read  this  doctrine? 
Those  who  have  not  will  find  it  among  the  appen- 
dices; those  who  have  may  not  be  familiar  with  the 
causes  which  made  it  a national  shibboleth. 

Its  origin  was  due  to  the  Holy  Alliance  grow- 
ing out  of  the  victory  of  the  kings  over  Napoleon. 
In  1821  the  Bourbons  were  on  the  throne  of 
France;  a French  army  had  assisted  in  overcom- 
ing the  revolution  in  Spain.  The  Spanish  colo- 
nies of  America  were  in  revolt.  Why  should  not 
the  kings  assist  in  the  pacification  in  behalf  of  the 
rights  of  monarchy?  At  Verona,  in  November, 
1822,  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria  and  the  incompe- 
tent head  of  what  is  now  the  French  Republic 
signed  the  following: 

“The  undersigned,  especially  authorized  to 
make  some  additions  to  the  treaty  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  after  having  exchanged  their  respective 
credentials,  have  agreed  as  follows ; 

377 


278 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


“Article  I.  The  high  contracting  powers,  be- 
ing convinced  that  the  system  of  representative 
government  is  equally  as  incompatible  with  the 
monarchical  principles  as  the  maximum  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people  with  the  Divine  right, 
engage  mutually,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to 
use  all  their  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  the  system 
of  representative  governments  in  whatever  coun- 
try it  may  exist  in  Europe , and  to  prevent  its 
being  introduced  in  those  countries  where  it  is  not 
yet  known. 

“Art.  II.  As  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
liberty  of  the  press  is  the  most  powerful  means 
used  by  the  pretended  supporters  of  the  rights  of 
nations,  to  the  detriment  of  those  princes,  the  high 
contracting  parties  promise  reciprocally  to  adopt 
all  proper  measures  to  suppress  it,  not  only  in 
their  own  States,  but  also  in  the  rest  of  Europe.” 

It  was  the  dying  sputter  of  the  divine  right 
principle.  At  the  time,  the  United  States  had 
about  the  population  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  to-day,  and  the  memory  of  the  War  of 
Independence  was  fresher  in  the  minds  of  living 
men  than  that  of  the  Civil  War  in  our  generation. 
Europe  was  the  mighty  ogre,  and  we  were  a 
struggling  young  nation.  In  1821  Alexander  I, 
in  view  of  the  Russian  ownership  of  Alaska,  had 
issued  a ukase  claiming  all  the  territory  down  to 
latitude  51,  and  forbidding  any  foreign  vessel  to 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  279 


approach  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  coast- 
line. 

The  effect  of  the  Verona  treaty  in  the  United 
States  created  something  of  the  sensation  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Maine.  Yet  there  was  no  real 
cause  for  worry.  Great  Britain  had  refused  to 
join  her  former  allies.  Canning  saw  that  the 
British  Commons  and  public  would  never  listen 
to  partnership  in  such  reactionary  ideas.  More- 
over, as  a matter  of  policy,  he  could  not  permit 
any  threat  of  British  command  of  the  seas. 

So  the  British  prime  minister — the  real  father 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine — turned  to  Mr.  Rush, 
the  American  minister,  with  the  proposal  of  a 
joint  declaration  by  the  mother  country  and  her 
former  colony  to  prevent  Spain  from  recovering 
her  colonies.  Air.  Rush  would  not  act  without 
consulting  Air.  Monroe,  the  most  cautious  of 
Presidents,  whose  name,  however,  was  to  become 
the  authority  for  the  jingo  speeches  of  future 
generations.  In  a letter  dated  October  24,  1823, 
Ex-President  Jefferson  wrote  to  Ex-President 
Madison  in  part: 

“The  question  presented  by  the  letters  you  have 
sent  me  is  the  most  momentous  which  has  ever 
been  offered  to  my  contemplation  since  that  of 
independence.  That  made  us  a nation;  this  sets 
our  compass  and  points  the  course  wThich  we  are 
to  steer  through  the  ocean  of  time  opening  on 
us.  And  never  could  we  embark  on  it  under  cir- 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


280 

cumstances  more  auspicious.  Our  first  and  fun- 
damental maxim  should  be  never  to  entangle  our- 
selves in  the  broils  of  Europe.  Our  second,  never 
to  suffer  Europe  to  intermeddle  with  cisatlantic 
affairs.  . . . 

“Great  Britain  is  the  nation  which  can  do  us 
the  most  harm  of  any  one  of  all  on  earth,  and  with 
her  on  our  side  we  need  not  fear  the  whole  world. 
With  her,  then,  we  should  most  sedulously  cherish 
a cordial  friendship;  and  nothing  would  tend 
more  to  knit  our  affections  than  to  be  fighting 
once  more,  side  by  side,  in  the  same  cause.  Not 
that  I would  purchase  even  her  amity  at  the  price 
of  taking  part  in  her  wars.  But  the  war  in  which 
the  present  proposition  might  engage  us,  should 
that  be  its  consequence,  is  not  her  war  but  ours. 
Its  object  is  to  introduce  and  establish  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  keeping  out  of  our  land  all  foreign 
powers,  of  never  permitting  those  of  Europe  to 
intermeddle  with  the  affairs  of  our  nations.  It 
is  to  maintain  our  own  principle,  not  to  depart 
from  it.  And  if,  to  facilitate  this,  we  can  effect 
a division  in  the  body  of  the  European  powers 
and  draw  over  to  our  side  its  most  powerful  mem- 
ber, surely  we  should  do  it.  But  I am  clearly 
of  Mr.  Canning’s  opinion  that  it  will  prevent  in- 
stead of  provoke  war.” 

Now  turn  to  the  diary  of  John  Quincy  Adams 
for  November  1.3,  1823,  in  which  he  wrote  of 
President  Monroe: 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  281 


“I  find  him  yet  altogether  unsettled  in  his  own 
mind  as  to  the  answer  to  be  given  to  Mr.  Can- 
ning’s proposals,  and  alarmed,  far  beyond  any- 
thing that  I could  have  conceived  possible,  with 
the  fear  that  the  Holy  Alliance  are  about  to  re- 
store immediately  all  of  South  America  to  Spain. 
Calhoun  [then  Secretary  of  War]  stimulates  the 
panic,  and  the  news  that  Cadiz  has  surrendered 
to  the  French  has  so  affected  the  President  that 
he  appeared  entirely  to  despair  of  the  cause  of 
South  America.” 

A few  daj^s  later  he  wrote: 

“I  soon  found  the  source  of  the  President’s 
despondency  with  regard  to  South  American  af- 
fairs. Calhoun  is  perfectly  moon-struck  by  the 
surrender  of  Cadiz,  and  says  the  Holy  Allies, 
with  ten  thousand  men,  will  restore  all  Mexico 
and  South  America  to  the  Spanish  dominion.” 
But  the  Adams  and  Jefferson  view  prevailed. 
With  the  perfect  certainty,  thanks  to  the  backing 
of  British  command  of  the  sea,  that  its  enuncia- 
tion did  not  mean  war,  the  Doctrine  was  included 
in  the  message  to  Congress  on  December  2, 
arousing  the  whole  country  to  a patriotic  fervor 
and  proving  a good  stroke  of  politics  for  the  ad- 
ministration. It  is  one  of  the  satires  of  history 
that  our  last  violent  outbreak  on  the  subject  in 
Mr.  Cleveland’s  Venezuelan  message  should  have 
been  directed  against  England,  the  first  sponsor 
of  the  Doctrine. 


282 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


The  action  of  both  countries  sprang  from  the 
opportunism  of  the  moment,  which  destiny  was  to 
crystallize  into  a fetish  to  be  construed  altogether 
out  of  the  original  intention.  Since  1823,  the 
United  States  has  grown  to  a nation  of  90,000,- 
000  people ; its  navy  is  second  in  size  in  the  world ; 
and  it  has  been  bold  enough  to  put  petitions 
about  the  mistreatment  of  his  own  subjects  before 
the  present  Czar,  while  wrorse  outrages  than  any 
in  Russia  occur  in  regions  at  our  door  which  the 
later  interpretation  of  the  Doctrine  would  seal 
up  past  all  hope  of  reform. 

We  throw  the  aegis  of  its  protection  over  all 
Latin  America  alike,  without  any  further  sense 
of  responsibility;  and  we  wonder  why  we  do  not 
get  the  trade  of  South  America  when  we  take  no 
sympathetic  interest  in  its  real  Latin  civilization 
because  we  associate  it  with  the  type  we  see  in 
Guatemala  and  Nicaragua. 

Recently,  English  reviewers  of  Mr.  Arthur 
Ruhl’s  “The  Other  Americans,”  one  of  the  most 
delightful  and  enlightening  records  of  travel  of 
recent  years,  said  that  the  remarkable  thing  about 
the  book  was  the  surprise  of  Mr.  Ruhl’s  North 
American  readers  at  the  progress  of  Brazil,  Ar- 
gentina and  Chile,  wrhich  had  become  a common- 
place to  Europe.  It  was  my  pleasure  to  see  some- 
thing of  South  America  in  1907-8;  and  a few 
months  later  I sought  in  vain  in  Central  America, 
until  I reached  Costa  Rica,  for  the  spell  whic^ 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  283 


South  America  had  cast  over  me.  Central  Amer- 
ica is  not  Latin-American,  but  “Indo- American.” 

The  first  thing,  then,  is  to  take  the  great  South 
American  nations  out  of  the  Central  American 
category.  That  is  only  the  simplest  courtesy 
which  proceeds  from  knowing  something  of  those 
to  whom  you  would  be  polite.  According  to 
Horace  X.  Fisher,  who  has  made  the  subject  a 
study,  in  Argentina  the  population  is  91  per  cent, 
white;  in  Chile,  85,  and  88  in  the  four  governing 
temperate  zone  States.  The  difference  in  char- 
acter of  the  people  makes  a comparison  even  be- 
tween Mexico  and  Argentina  fundamentally  out 
of  question.  The  hardy  blood  of  northern  Italy 
has  flowed  into  Argentina,  while  Mexico  is  an 
Indian  country,  with  only  the  thin  upper  crust 
of  society  of  overwhelmingly  Spanish  strain. 

Except  by  sea,  these  distant  sister  republics 
can  stand  as  their  own  sponsor  for  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  Any  European  nation  which  inter- 
feres with  their  affairs  will  have  to  reckon  with 
well-drilled  armies  and  an  unconquerable  spirit. 
They  are  at  work  on  their  problems  no  less 
earnestly  than  we  on  ours.  Their  revolutions  in 
time  past,  like  our  Civil  War,  have  exemplified 
the  struggle  of  a people  towrard  stability  and  bet- 
ter government  in  the  evolutionary  stages  of  a 
new  country;  and  in  Guatemala,  Venezuela, 
Nicaragua  or  Haiti,  every  revolution  seems  to 
have  sunk  the  nation  concerned  deeper  in  the  mire. 


284 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


In  South  America  and  Costa  Rica  the  insistent 
self-interest  of  the  individual  is  the  controlling 
factor;  and  in  Central  America  the  Indian  and 
half-breed  masses  are  the  pawns  of  military  ad- 
venturers, of  whom  one  alone,  Diaz,  has  proved 
himself  a capable  ruler. 

With  a South  American  nation  on  the  shores 
of  the  Caribbean,  Central  America  as  a political 
entity  under  present  conditions  could  not  long 
endure.  A special  commission  of  South  Ameri- 
can statesmen  traveling  from  the  border  of 
Guatemala  to  the  border  of  Costa  Rica  would 
probably  take  the  view  that  both  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  wrere  sadly  derelict  in  their 
duty.  They  would  see  why  the  part  that  we  have 
played  in  Cuba  and  in  Panama  no  more  suggests 
an  aggressive  policy  against  the  Spanish-speak- 
ing peoples  as  such  than  the  punishment  of  bri- 
gands is  an  assault  on  the  rights  of  mountaineers. 

Knowing  that  they  need  never  pay  any  debts 
which  they  contract,  the  dictators  have,  accord- 
ingly, borrowed  what  they  could  for  their  own 
pockets,  paying  exorbitant  commissions  to  any 
swindling  European  loan  agent  who  could  fool 
foreign  bondholders  with  false  circulars  and  a 
promise  of  an  unnaturally  high  rate  of  interest. 
The  Drago  Doctrine,  which  Brazil  enunciated  at 
The  Hague  Conference,  holds  that  a nation  need 
not  suffer  military  aggression  simply  because  she 
defalcates  the  interest  of  her  debt.  It  did  not 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  285 


contemplate  making  the  ruin  of  a nation’s  sense 
of  financial  honor  an  international  right  or  re- 
ward, or  teaching  a people  that  the  repudiation 
of  obligations  at  will  is  quite  an  honorable  and  in- 
telligent thing  to  do. 

Now,  if  a father  saw  his  son  picking  a quarrel 
with  another  boy  and  the  son  asked  parental  aid 
in  thrashing  his  enemy,  the  father,  with  a view  to 
developing  self-reliance,  would,  no  doubt,  tell 
him  to  fight  his  own  battles.  Certainly  he  could 
not  do  worse  for  his  son  than  to  encourage  trucu- 
lence. Yet  that  is  precisely  our  attitude  toward 
Central  America.  The  great  republics  of  South 
America  have  free  governments,  vie  jealously 
with  one  another  in  progress,  and  bear  in  their 
interrelations,  which  are  often  delicate,  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  strong  nations.  In  turn,  our  re- 
lations with  them,  in  all  dignity  and  mutual  re- 
spect, aside  from  the  continental  bond,  is  on  the 
same  basis  as  with  France  and  Germany.  But 
we  have  refused  to  allow  the  Central  Americans 
to  develop  any  sense  of  responsibility  whatsoever 
as  nations.  They  have  never  stood  on  their  own 
feet. 

Can  we  deny  the  logic  of  the  Englishman,  the 
German,  the  F renchman  and  the  South  American 
when  he  reasons  that  the  attitude  of  the  average 
American  is  this:  “We  don’t  need  those  coun- 
tries yet.  Maybe  we  shall,  by  and  by,  and  we 
are  fencing  them  in,  anyway.  Let  others  keep 


286 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


off!”  Is  any  doctrine  thus  conceived  which  pro- 
motes immorality  a moral  one?  they  ask.  Can 
we  expect  them  to  see  that  our  only  culpability  is 
self-deception  due  to  our  misconstruction  of  a 
policy  which  had  its  origin  in  conditions  of  ninety 
years  ago?  “You  are  salving  your  conscience,” 
we  are  told,  “when  you  hold  that  the  Doctrine 
leaves  a number  of  weak  little  nations  free  to 
work  out  their  own  destiny.” 

When  we  laugh  at  Central  America’s  opera 
bouffe  warfare  as  something  grotesque  and  amus- 
ing which  does  not  concern  us,  we  laugh  at  rapine, 
murder  and  degeneration  which  could  not  exist 
but  for  our  position.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the 
ally  of  governmental  regimes  whose  counterpart 
may  be  found  only  in  the  pages  of  pagan  history. 
It  has  enclosed  a field  where  the  revolutionists 
may  play  their  bloody  game  free  from  interrup- 
tion. The  worst  military  despot  that  holds  his 
place  by  the  bayonets  of  a cutthroat  army  of 
ruffians  can  defy  every  foreign  nation  and  all  the 
customs  of  international  civilization  with  perfect 
impunity. 

If  it  were  not  for  our  protection  the  dictators’ 
mischief-making  ardor  would  soon  have  to  be  di- 
verted to  putting  houses  in  order.  They  would 
no  longer  rely  on  the  northern  neighbor  to  repel 
invasions.  ’How  long  before  Mexico  would  sweep 
down  to  Panama?  Ask  any  American  in  Mexico, 
giving  him  time  to  think  of  the  novel  hypothesis. 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  287 


what  form  the  succession  to  Diaz  would  take  if 
the  United  States  did  not  stand  for  the  republican 
idea  which  has  become  the  fetish  for  excusing 
the  original  sins  of  Central  America.  Diaz  would 
be  made  an  hereditary  monarch  by  his  followers. 
Every  thought  of  international  relations  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  the  border  of  Brazil  takes  our  atti- 
tude into  consideration.  We  cannot  escape  the 
influence  of  our  strength  and  geographical  posi- 
tion. 

Our  tender  regard  for  the  little  sister  republics 
has  been  shown  in  the  past  by  the  type  of  men 
we  have  sent  to  represent  us.  If  there  were  a 
morally  diseased  and  mentally  defunct  politician 
who  had  to  be  cared  for,  he  was  “Dreyfussed”  to 
Central  America  as  minister  or  consul.  One 
minister,  at  least,  wras  very  generally  charged  with 
taking  hush  money  from  one  of  the  dictators  for 
keeping  back  a claim  for  damages  by  an  Ameri- 
can citizen.  But  among  the  exceptions  to  type 
wras  a conspicuous  one,  that  veteran  William 
Lawrence  Merry,  formerly  minister  to  Nicaragua 
and  now  minister  to  Costa  Rica,  a simple  Ameri- 
can of  the  New  England  school.  The  Nicara- 
guans use  the  English  word  “straight”  in  ex- 
plaining his  characteristics,  which,  in  the  early 
days  of  his  career,  wrere  so  puzzling  to  them. 

The  position  of  any  minister  has  been  weak 
from  the  very  nature  of  his  instructions  from 
Washington;  and  Washington’s  handicap  is  pub- 


288 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


lie  opinion  at  home.  An  American  Secretary  of 
State  does  not  wish  to  make  the  administration 
trouble.  Any  act  of  his  that  savors  of  a show  of 
authority  in  Central  American  affairs  immediate- 
ly arouses  the  cry  of  imperialism. 

If  a minister  has  been  repeatedly  lied  to  and 
deceived  by  a Central  American  minister  of  for- 
eign affairs  till  he  finally  makes  a blunt  demand 
or  if  he  protests  against  any  barbarous  practice, 
he  is  promptly  reminded  from  Washington  to  be 
cautious ; to  cultivate  good  relations ; not  to  make 
himself  non  persona  grata  to  the  ruler  of  the 
country  to  which  he  is  accredited — a ruler  who 
never  hesitates  to  appeal  through  his  own  minister 
in  Washington  direct  to  the  State  Department 
against  the  aggressive  tactics  to  which  his  poor 
little  country  is  being  subjected. 

And  Washington  scolds  the  minister,  and  the 
dictator  wins.  In  any  contest  of  diplomatic  cun- 
ning an  American  diplomatist  is  easily  beaten. 
The  Central  American  diplomatist  is  trained  in 
the  art  of  deception,  promises  and  delay  from 
boyhood  up.  It  is  this  type  which  succeeds,  while 
the  honest  man  goes  to  jail.  The  dictators  are 
just  as  familiar  with  the  way  that  American 
public  opinion  works  as  with  the  limited  powers 
of  a minister.  They  know  us,  but  we  do  not  know 
them. 

The  administration  of  President  Roosevelt 
brought  one  general  reform,  peculiarly  important 


THE  REAL  MONROE  DOCTRINE  289 


in  its  application  to  Central  America,  which  had 
been  one  of  the  worst  sufferers  from  the  old  sys- 
tem. The  consular  service  was  put  on  a perma- 
nent footing1,  with  examinations  for  entrance. 
An  unofficial  beginning  of  the  same  kind  was 
made  in  the  diplomatic  service,  which  President 
Taft  has  since  guaranteed  by  an  executive  order. 
No  Secretary  of  State  will  again  have  to  work 
with  such  agents  as  had  John  Hay,  who,  with  his 
great  gifts,  his  knowledge  of  Spanish  and  Span- 
ish civilization,  won  the  respect  and  liking  of 
the  South  Americans  and  at  the  same  time  showed 
an  understanding  and  salutary  firmness  with 
the  Central  Americans. 

It  remained  for  his  successor,  Mr.  Root,  who 
made  Pan- Americanism  his  policy,  as  we  shall 
see,  to  establish  our  position  toward  Central 
America  as  nothing  less  than  tutelary  and  before 
the  close  of  his  term  of  office  to  advise  a Central 
American  nation  as  to  its  actions  in  the  authorita- 
tive manner  of  a British  political  agent  toward  one 
of  the  Indian  potentates.  Mr.  Knox’s  action  in 
returning  the  passports  of  the  minister  from 
Nicaragua,  though  different  in  method,  wras  far 
from  any  reversion  of  Mr.  Root’s  policy;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  was  in  line  with  its  inevitable  de- 
velopment, or,  at  least,  its  inevitable  conse- 
quences. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-SEVEN 


MR.  ROOT  S PLAN 


UR  attitude  has  varied  from  Commander 


Hollins’  bombardment  and  burning  of 
San  Juan  del  Norte  in  Nicaragua,  in  1854,  to 
submitting  to  the  regular  opening  of  official  mail 
by  Zelaya;  from  countenancing  the  filibuster, 
Walker,  to  demanding  no  satisfaction  for  overt 
firing  by  the  forts  of  Amapala,  in  1893,  on  the 
merchant  steamer  Costa  Rica,  with  women  and 
children  aboard,  because  it  refused  to  give  up  a 
political  refugee.  Sometimes  we  have  lost  our 
temper  and  given  the  child  a spanking;  and  again 
we  have  excused  the  child  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  Central  American  and  did  not  know  any 
better. 

The  little  nations  have  always  been  holding 
conferences;  always  planning  a union  of  peace. 
By  their  own  Compact  of  Corinto  (Nicaragua), 
signed  in  1902,  all  the  Presidents  agreed  to 
assist  in  maintaining  one  another  in  power.  Three 
years  passed  without  an  international  war,  though 
in  the  meantime  Honduras  had  a coup  d’itat  and 


290 


MR.  ROOT’S  PLAN 


291 


a revolution.  Then  the  pent-up  energies  of  her 
quiescent  neighbors  broke  forth. 

In  1905  Cabrera,  of  Guatemala,  was  exposed 
for  aiding  a secret  revolution  against  Salvador 
by  Alfaro,  which  failed.  In  the  spring  of  1906 
the  troops  of  Salvador  invaded  Guatemala  with- 
out any  declaration  of  war.  The  military  residts 
were  undecided,  when  the  United  States  inter- 
vened. A treaty  was  arranged  aboard  the  United 
States  cruiser  Marblehead,  with  the  representa- 
tives of  all  five  republics  present  and  also  the 
ministers  to  Central  America  of  the  United 
States  and  Mexico. 

Later,  in  1907,  they  met  at  San  Jose,  Costa 
Rica,  in  conference  and  further  bound  themselves 
to  good  behavior.  Zelaya,  of  Nicaragua,  refused 
to  join  the  conference.  The  Compact  of  Corinto 
was  still  binding,  he  insisted,  and  he  himself 
had  strictly  adhered  to  its  provisions.  To  prove 
this  he  put  his  troops  aboard  his  war  steamer 
Momotombo,  and  without  any  warning,  invaded 
Salvador  and  was  beaten. 

Then  Zelaya  and  Figueroa,  President  of  Sal- 
vador, made  a public  treaty  of  “good  will  and 
amity”  at  Amapala,  Honduras,  where  they  pri- 
vately agreed  to  start  a revolution  in  Honduras 
and  put  Sierra,  whom  they  could  control,  in  office 
as  President.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year, 
1907,  Nicaraguan  troops  invaded  Honduras,  cap- 
tured Tegucigalpa  and  drove  President  Bonilla 


292 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


into  exile,  with  the  assistance  of  an  army  of 
Bonilla’s  enemies. 

Now  Secretary  Root  took  a hand  with  his 
“good  offices  in  behalf  of  peace,”  a phrase  which 
always  appeals  to  public  imagination  and  may 
hide  a determined  and  farseeing  purpose.  In  a 
word,  he  said  explicitly,  if  politely,  that  war  must 
cease.  If  we  are  to  regard  the  Central  American 
nations  as  independent  in  the  usual  sense,  then 
our  action  was  equivalent,  in  outright  breach  of 
international  etiquette,  to  a command  from  the 
United  States  to  Russia  and  Japan  after  Lio- 
yang,  or  to  Germany  and  France  after  Sedan,  to 
lay  down  their  arms. 

Mr.  Root,  who  was  to  know  his  Central  Ameri- 
cans much  better  a year  later,  planned  a great 
reform.  He  issued  a call  to  the  five  countries  to 
hold  a conference  in  Washington,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  This 
conference  drafted  the  most  advanced  arbitration 
treaty  (see  Appendix  A)  to  which  any  set  of 
nations  ever  agreed,  and  there  was  much  talk  of 
how  a group  of  small,  maligned  American  re- 
publics had  blazed  the  path  for  the  great  powers 
who  had  made  but  slight  progress  toward  dis- 
armament at  The  Hague. 

In  the  preliminary  convention,  which  is  char- 
acteristically Central  American  in  its  literary 
spirit,  the  delegates  expressed  every  ideal  which 
any  one  of  them  could  suggest,  while  the  secre- 


MR.  ROOT’S  PLAN 


293 


tary’s  directing  mind  appeared  in  the  conven- 
tion for  the  establishment  of  the  court  at  Cartago, 
before  which  all  questions  of  international  dif- 
ference was  to  be  decided.  The  delegates  had 
preached  peace;  a legal  method  was  provided  to 
ensure  it.  Every  possible  contingency  was  fore- 
seen in  this  admirably  logical  document  except 
incorrigible  manifestations  of  Central  American 
human  nature  and  the  necessity  of  a policeman  to 
enforce  the  decrees  of  the  court. 

A favorite  means  of  warfare  of  one  President 
on  another  was  to  support  the  organization  of  a 
revolutionary  army  within  his  borders  to  invade 
his  neighbor’s  territory  when  it  was  ready.  This 
practice  was  now  solemnly  foresworn.  If  all  the 
Presidents  kept  their  oaths  they  could  re-elect 
themselves  to  office  as  long  as  they  pleased,  be- 
cause of  recent  years,  with  the  lines  of  telegraph 
instantly  apprising  a dictator  of  any  movement 
against  him,  the  only  hope  of  turning  him  out 
was  by  a force  organized  across  the  frontier,  or  by 
assassination  or  a palace  plot. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  treaty  the  different  na- 
tions had,  in  most  instances,  no  regular  diplomatic 
representatives  among  themselves.  Their  rela- 
tions were  those  of  primitive  peoples  before  the 
plenipotentiary  system  was  introduced.  They  kept 
informed  by  means  of  spies  in  rival  capitals,  and 
the  lack  of  the  usual  form  of  returning  his  pass- 


294 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


ports  to  a minister  in  the  event  of  war  was  con- 
sidered a strategic  advantage. 

The  treaty  provided  for  the  exchange  of  min- 
isters and  for  the  establishment  of  a Pedagogical 
Institute  in  Costa  Kica  and  a Central  American 
Bureau  in  Guatemala,  which  should  be  a local 
counterpart  of  the  valuable  general  bureau  in 
Washington.  To  bankrupt  Honduras,  unable  to 
pay  her  soldiers  and  clerks,  this  was  a heavy  tax. 
Aside  from  $10,000  American  gold  for  her  min- 
ister and  $6,000  to  her  first  secretary  in  Washing- 
ton, she  had  now  to  pay  $10,000  a year  for  the 
court  at  Cartago  and  $8,000  each  to  the  ministers 
to  four  other  countries  and  to  her  representatives 
in  the  bureau. 

Enrique  Creel,  for  Mexico,  and  W.  I. 
Buchanan,  for  the  United  States,  went  to  Car- 
tago to  inaugurate  the  court  with  due  formality 
as  an  epoch-making  institution  which  was  to  put 
an  end  to  armed  strife  in  Central  America. 
Meanwhile,  Cabrera,  Figueroa  of  Salvador,  now 
Cabrera’s  ally,  and  Zelaya,  who  had  sent  word 
to  the  Washington  conference  that  he  would 
gladly  resign  to  ensure  peace,  had  ordered  con- 
signments of  rapid-fire  guns  and  other  arms  and 
ammunition,  practicing  the  rule  that  this  halcyon 
time  of  Mr.  Root’s  reform  was  just  the  occasion 
to  prepare  for  war. 

Sittings  were  hardly  begun  when  Zelaya  put 
his  troops  aboard  the  gunboat  Momotombo  and 


Formal  inauguration  of  the  Central  American  Court  of  Justice 


MR.  ROOT’S  PLAN 


295 


other  vessels  for  an  invasion  of  Salvador.  A 
revolution  against  Honduras  was  organized  in 
Guatemala,  without  Cabrera’s  consent,  as  he  later 
represented;  but  the  head  of  so  elaborate  a spy 
system  as  he  maintains  must  have  been  nodding 
if  he  did  not  know  that  one  of  his  generals  was 
absent  in  the  region  of  the  band  that  was  being 
prepared  and  that  its  leader’s  proclamations  were 
printed  in  the  government  printing  office,  which 
may  publish  nothing  without  his  permission. 

Mr.  Hoot  turned  policeman  for  the  court,  fur- 
ther acknowledging  our  tutelary  position,  by 
sending  word  through  our  legation,  firmly  if 
quietly,  that  the  revolution  must  stop  and  that 
Zelaya  must  not  invade  Salvador.  Honduras 
then  brought  suit  against  Guatemala  in  the  court 
for  $500,000  damages  for  being  party  to  an  up- 
rising within  Honduran  borders. 

Everybody  in  Cartago  was  saying,  when  I was 
in  Costa  Rica,  that  the  Salvadorian  and  the 
Guatemalan  judges  would  take  one  side  and  the 
Nicaraguan  and  the  Honduran  the  other.  So  it 
proved.  Jose  de  Aguilar,  the  presiding  judge,  a 
Costa  Rican,  who  had  the  casting  vote,  decided 
against  any  damages  and  tried  to  please  all  par- 
ties. Soon  after,  Mr.  Carnegie  gave  a Peace 
Palace  for  the  court,  to  the  delight  of  the  Costa 
Ricans,  who  are  fond  of  fine  architecture. 

But  there  was  one  way,  as  later  events  were  to 
show,  by  which  a revolution  might  be  inaugu- 


296 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


rated  without  the  assistance  of  a neighboring 
dictator.  It  needed  the  sympathy,  in  an  isolated 
section,  of  American  interests,  which  had  suf- 
fered so  far,  or  had  so  much  to  gain  by  a change 
of  government,  that  they  would  supply  arms  and 
ammunition  and  a leaven  of  Americans  who  had 
fought  in  the  Philippines  or  Cuba  or  knew  how  to 
handle  rapid-fire  guns.  Thus,  Juan  J.  Estrada, 
who  had  led  the  Zelayan  army  in  the  conquest 
of  Honduras  in  1907,  became  the  head  of  an  or- 
ganized force  in  rebellion  on  the  east  coast  of 
Nicaragua  in  the  autumn  of  1909. 

Two  Americans,  Groce  and  Cannon,  captured 
from  the  insurgent  forces,  were  shot  by  Zelaya’s 
orders,  and  in  view  of  this  action,  of  conditions 
with  which  we  are  already  familiar  and  of  Ze- 
laya’s continued  disregard  of  the  Washington 
convention,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  now  Mr.  Knox,  severed  all  relations  with 
him;  and  in  place  of  a cruiser,  which  Mr.  Root 
had  used,  he  sent  a force  of  marines  to  be  in  readi- 
ness if  threatened  disorders  should  occur.  In  the 
name  of  common  morality,  no  action  was  ever 
more  justifiable.  For  international  precedent  it 
had  Mr.  Root’s  own  arbitrary  intervention.  Ze- 
laya  departed  on  a Mexican  gunboat,  the  General 
Guerrero,  with  his  wealth,  leaving  an  empty 
treasury  and  the  most  pitifully  exhausted  country 
on  the  American  continent.  And  this  was  only 
two  years  after  the  treaty  of  Washington,  which 


MR.  ROOT’S  PLAN 


297 


was  to  cure  Central  American  evils  by  means  of 
a piece  of  paper! 

As  for  the  Pedagogical  Institute  provided  for 
by  the  treaty,  it  remains  visionary.  When  I was 
in  Guatemala  City  I was  shown  through  the  new 
offices  of  the  Central  American  Bureau,  whose 
delegates  had  just  held  their  first  sessions.  For 
each  delegate  a desk  and  an  unused  pad  and  an 
inkwell  were  arranged.  The  clerks  were  absent, 
hut  two  brand-new  typewriters  told  of  their  good 
intentions.  It  was  an  appropriate  stage  setting 
for  what  every  foreigner  whom  I met  in  Central 
America  and  every  Central  American  President 
and  politician,  I am  sure,  regards  as  a farce. 

But  Cabrera  had  been  eloquent  in  highflown 
welcome,  with  none  of  the  candor  of  my  con- 
versation with  him,  and  every  delegate  had  made 
a speech  so  eloquent  that  you  might  think  that  the 
angels  had  descended  on  Guatemala,  where  politi- 
cal suspects  lay  sore  from  lashings  in  prison. 

Copies  of  reports  of  the  proceedings  which  I 
received  later,  in  which  every  orator  seems  to 
have  his  fair  share  of  space  for  disquisitions  about 
liberty  and  Greece  and  Rome,  do  not  change  the 
original  impression.  Probably  they  have  not 
changed  Cabrera’s  views.  He  said  in  my  talk 
with  him : 

“Central  American  union  is  a beautiful  idea,  a 
consummation  toward  which  all  true  Central 
American  patriots  should  labor  with  noble,  un- 


298 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


selfish  aims.  But  I fear  that,  like  your  own 
union  and  all  other  great  nations,  it  will  be  made 
only  with  the  bayonet” — and  doubtless  he  would 
be  glad  to  undertake  the  task  with  his  own  army 
if  the  United  States  and  Mexico  would  permit. 

Surely  these  five  countries,  in  which  there  are 
as  many  dialects  as  in  Russia,  I should  say,  are  a 
unit  in  a geographical  sense.  But  shall  Costa 
Rica  be  yoked  to  Nicaragua,  though  many  am- 
bitious Costa  Ricans  would  like  to  be  President 
of  the  new  nation?  For  ninety  years  each  coun- 
try has  been  a sealed  satrapy.  The  natural  course 
of  traffic  has  been  from  the  highlands  to  either 
coast.  While  one  may  ride  by  rail  from  the  Cape 
to  Cairo,  the  talk  of  through  sleepers  from  the 
City  of  Mexico  to  Panama  remains  a series  of 
concessions  to  the  terminus  at  the  Bay  of  Fon- 
seca, with  such  railroads  as  there  are  struggling 
to  pay  their  interest  under  conditions  that  forbid 
prosperity. 

The  dictator  has  seen  in  steel  tracks  a draw- 
bridge over  the  moat  into  his  baronial  castle.  No 
railroad  and  no  good  highway  crosses  a single 
Central  American  frontier.  Populations  hug  the 
interior  towns,  and  the  border  regions  have  be- 
come uninhabited  wildernesses  through  fear  of 
impressment  and  depredations  by  revolutionary 
bands.  If  union  failed  after  the  Spanish  regime, 
with  its  precedent  of  hegemony,  would  it  succeed 
to-day  without  the  direction  of  a sustaining  hand  ? 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-EIGHT 


THE  FUTURE 


E can  hear  the  call  of  “Destiny,”  which 


involved  us  in  the  work  of  order,  edu- 
cation and  sanitation  across  the  Pacific,  but  not 
the  call  of  neighborly  duty  and  economic  self- 
interest  to  remedy  conditions  far  worse  than  the 
Philippines  ever  suffered  in  a richer  tropical  coun- 
try so  devastated  that  it  has  fewer  inhabitants 
than  at  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  Spanish  rule. 

Time  will  change  our  view  of  Central  America. 
We  shall  cease  to  think  of  it  as  the  home  of  a litter 
of  mixed  populations  unhappily  in  the  domain 
of  our  influence.  We  shall  know  that  the  gener- 
osity of  nature  did  not  end  with  the  varied  re- 
sources of  our  temperate  zone.  The  tapering 
backbone  of  land  between  two  oceans  and  the 
scattered  islands  which  make  the  broken  rim  of 
the  Caribbean  form  something  better  than  a play- 
ground for  winter  holidays.  They  are  to  be  a 
hothouse  and  a granary,  making  all  the  territory 
between  the  Lakes  and  the  Canal  an  integer  pro- 
ducing everything  that  man  consumes  close  to 
our  harbors,  while  less  fortunate  Europe  is  sepa- 


299 


300 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


rated  from  tropical  Africa  by  the  spread  of  the 
Sahara. 

At  Panama  Dr.  Gorgas  has  shattered  the  myth 
about  the  deadly  climate  of  the  lowlands,  while 
the  highlands  are  healthy  in  spite  of  all  man’s 
neglect.  Consider  the  marshy  England  of  Al- 
fred’s time,  when  sanitation  was  on  the  same  order 
as  Central  America’s  to-day ! Consider  the  Eng- 
land of  Elizabeth’s  time,  with  only  three  million 
population;  of  George  Ill’s,  with  only  fifteen 
million,  which  hygienic  progress  has  given  forty 
million  to-day!  Give  him  the  means  of  trans- 
portation in  Central  America  and  a man  may 
superintend  his  plantation  in  the  lowdands  dur- 
ing the  day  and  return,  without  traveling  farther 
than  many  commuters,  to  sleep  under  blankets  at 
an  altitude  of  2,000  feet  every  night.  “So  much 
room  here  and  so  few  people,”  as  the  Japanese 
major  said. 

An  acre  of  that  rich  soil  of  the  highlands,  which 
gives  out  its  fertility  in  a riot  of  jungle  waste, 
under  the  husbandship  of  skill  and  application, 
with  dollars  on  a gold  basis  instead  of  jail  as  a 
reward  for  labor,  wrould  yield  more  to  feed  and 
clothe  mankind  than  many  a Newr  England  farm 
which  our  ancestors  tilled.  In  Honduras,  where 
marsh  w^eeds  now  grow,  crops  of  rice  wrould  rise, 
as  they  have  in  Texas  and  Louisiana.  Yet  no 
American,  unless  he  is  a part  of  a corporation 
strong  enough  to  protect  him,  should  go  into  busi- 


THE  FUTURE 


301 


ness  or  planting  in  Central  America  until  there  is 
a more  practical  change  in  conditions  than  the 
succession  of  one  President  to  another. 

Statistics  slash  the  bubble  of  trans-Pacific  des- 
tiny. The  commerce  of  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica, as  a whole,  is  more  than  double  that  of  all 
Asia;  and  that  of  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay 
(those  thriving,  growing  countries  of  which  we 
know  so  little)  exceeds,  including  our  small  part, 
that  of  Japan,  China  and  Korea.  But  the  east 
coast  of  South  America  is  far  away,  nearer  to 
Europe  with  its  cheap  manufactures  and  greedy, 
efficient  mercantile  marines  than  to  the  United 
States. 

Central  America  and  the  West  Indies  are  in 
our  yard,  and  the  commerce  of  the  West  Indies, 
thanks  to  flourishing  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  pay- 
ing us  back  in  the  coin  of  trade  for  our  interest 
in  their  behalf,  equals  that  of  the  East  Indies 
which  drew  Columbus  to  his  discovery.  Cuba’s 
area,  44,000  square  miles,  is  a little  less  than 
Guatemala’s,  and  one-third  that  of  the  Philip- 
pines. Her  foreign  trade  is  $210,000,000,  or  $100 
per  capita  a year,  compared  to  Guatemala’s  $15,- 
000,000,  or  about  $8  per  capita,  and  the  Philip- 
pines’ $65,000,000,  or  about  $17  per  capita.  Costa 
Rica,  the  one  stable  Central  American  republic, 
has  $50  per  capita,  w'hich  is  sufficient  comment 
on  the  comparative  resources  of  Central  America 
and  the  Philippines. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


30& 

Cuba  has  nearly  four  times  the  trade  of  all  the 
Central  American  countries.  Porto  Rico,  with  a 
million  people  and  3,435  square  miles,  has  over 
$50  per  capita  and  a trade  total  surpassing  that 
of  all  the  Central  American  countries,  if  we  ex- 
clude Costa  Rica,  with  its  $18,000,000  for  its 
350,000  inhabitants.  Java,  of  the  Dutch  East 
Indies,  with  only  2,000  square  miles  more  area 
than  Guatemala,  has  30,000,000  population  and  a 
trade  of  $225,000,000  annually.  Central  Amer- 
ica has  170,000  square  miles  and  3,500,000  popu- 
lation, compared  to  the  smaller  area  of  the  whole 
Philippine  archipelago  with  127,000  square  miles 
and  8,000,000  population.  The  Filipinos  are  in- 
creasing rapidly,  but  no  more  rapidly  than  the 
Central  Americans  would  if  hygiene  rocked  the 
crib  and  peace  and  opportunity  waited  at  the 
door.  In  the  region  between  the  Mexican  border 
and  Colombia  is  room  for  50,000,000  people,  and 
in  ten  years  of  good  government  its  trade  might 
be  quadrupled. 

We  cannot  stop  our  own  growth  of  numbers 
and  the  expansion  of  our  influence,  or  the  de- 
velopment of  new  interests  with  the  completion 
of  the  Canal.  We  are  facing  a problem  which 
we  cannot  escape.  Shall  it  be  solved  in  a moment 
of  violence  when  we  suddenly  become  exasper- 
ated? If  the  average  American  could  be  trans- 
ported in  spirit  to  Central  America,  I fear  we 
should  have  drastic  action  at  once.  He  would 


THE  FUTURE 


303 


demand  immediate  occupation  of  the  whole  coun- 
try in  the  name  of  humanity.  Or  shall  we  accept 
the  problem  as  inevitable  and  deal  with  it  de- 
liberately? 

It  would  seem  that  we  have  had  enough  of 
blind  destiny  with  its  fearful  entail  of  expense. 
Common  sense  is  a better  leader.  Whatever  we 
do  about  Central  America,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
that  the  best  philanthropy  and  the  best  humani- 
tarianism  will  begin  and  end  only  with  such  meas- 
ures as  will  mean  economic  at  the  same  time  as 
educational  and  governmental  progress.  There 
can  be  no  prosperity  without  a drastic,  perma- 
nent reform  of  conditions.  How  is  this  to  be  ac- 
complished? 

One  thing  is  certain:  We  should  build  and 

own  legation  buildings  in  Central  American 
capitals,  where  our  influence  and  position  make 
our  representative  the  leading  man  of  the  foreign 
community.  Ownership  of  European  embassies 
may  wrait  on  this  more  practical  step,  wyhile  men  of 
great  wealth,  alwrays  glad  to  represent  us  in  Lon- 
don, Paris  and  Vienna,  continue  to  rent  palaces. 
Through  the  agency  of  our  ministers  we  can  de- 
mand the  limitation  of  armies  to  numbers  in  keep- 
ing at  least  with  our  own  standing  force,  the  end 
of  the  execution  of  political  suspects  and  of  the 
confiscation  of  property;  the  reorganization  of 
national  credit  with  the  guaranteed  payment  of 
interest  on  a compromise  amount  of  the  old  loans, 


304. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


and  the  establishment  of  personal  freedom  and 
the  right  of  trial. 

But  the  minister  must  have  the  support  of  the 
State  Department  and  of  the  American  public. 
His  authority  must  not  be  undermined  by  the 
continual  appeals  of  the  dictator  through  his  own 
legation  in  Washington.  Our  action  must  not 
subserve  the  intrigue  of  one  despot  against  an- 
other, as  it  has  so  frequently. 

Will  such  a policy  be  effective?  Is  it  possible 
by  any  outside  influence  to  force  a return  to  the 
elemental  principles  without  which  no  people  can 
help  themselves?  Misgovernment  has  become  an 
ingrained  habit  with  the  ruling  class.  Centuries 
of  tyranny  have  sunk  the  people  lower  than  the 
state  of  the  Egyptians  before  the  days  of  British 
rule.  They  know  nothing  but  fear  and  preju- 
dice. Let  the  money  that  now  goes  into  the  pur- 
chase of  arms  go  into  schools  for  a generation  and 
we  should  have  such  a transformation  in  the  Cor- 
dilleras as  we  have  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile 
and  in  the  Philippines.  The  worst  policy  of  all, 
robbing  us  of  trade  and  the  Central  Americans 
of  opportunities,  is  that  patchwork  opportunism 
which,  when  one  dictator’s  tyranny  reaches  a 
climax  and  becomes  a scandal  compelling  our  at- 
tention, gives  our  moral  support  to  the  induction 
in  office  of  some  successor  who,  in  turn,  will  wring 
a fortune  out  of  his  people  by  the  old  methods. 
Shall  temporary  reform  come  at  times  through 


THE  FUTURE 


305 


our  connivance  in  a revolution  financed  by  a cor- 
poration or  a firm  which  wants  its  own  man  in 
power?  This  has  happened  repeatedly.  The 
political  factor  in  the  time  of  Walker’s  filibuster- 
ing was  Commodore  Vanderbilt’s  ownership  of 
the  American  Transit  Company  plying  on  the 
waters  of  the  Nicaraguan  lakes  and  rivers. 

After  ninety  years’  trial  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, one  Central  American  country  alone,  Costa 
Rica,  is  worthy  of  the  Doctrine’s  later  interpreta- 
tion. There  we  have  protected  a small,  homo- 
geneous people  of  Caucasian  extraction  in  the 
exercise  of  their  sovereignty.  All  the  better  ele- 
ment of  the  other  countries  cries  out  for  some  as- 
surance of  safety  to  life  and  property.  Certainly 
even  the  powerful  private  interests  would  prefer 
our  intervention  to  having  to  gain  their  ends  by 
corruption  or  allying  their  fortunes  to  those  of 
a bandit  army  marching  on  the  capital.  Only  a 
small  class,  which  find  their  only  profits  in  office 
and  extortion,  prefer  the  present  system  of 
nominal  independence  from  our  direction. 

Every  reason  which  called  Christian  Europe  to 
the  relief  of  the  people  of  the  Balkan  provinces 
calls  us  to  the  relief  of  Central  America  from  men 
of  the  Zelaya  stamp,  whose  rule  makes  the  Wey- 
lerism  which  roused  our  indignation  in  1898  mild 
in  comparison.  We  cannot  shift  the  blame  on  to 
Spain’s  shoulders  in  this  instance;  it  is  ours.  For 
the  last  five  years  occupation  has  been  warranted 


306 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


in  at  least  two  of  the  republics.  It  is  the  one  sure 
cure.  Can  we  afford  to  miss  any  opportunity  of 
effecting  it  whenever,  in  the  name  of  the  restora- 
tion of  order,  we  can  take  charge  without  firing  a 
shot  ? Shall  we  hesitate  to  do  in  Central  America 
what  we  have  done  in  Cuba ; to  give  these  people  a 
chance  for  a fair  start,  which  they  have  never 
had?  Shall  we  accept  the  responsibility  which 
our  continual  intervention  has  acknowledged? 


APPENDIX  A 


GENERAL  TREATY  OF  PEACE 
AND  AMITY 

Treaty  and  Conventions  signed  by  representatives 
of  the  Republics  of  Guatemala,  Salvador, 
Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  at 
Washington,  December  20th,  1907,  estab- 
lishing the  Central  American  Court  of 
Justice  at  Cartago,  Costa  Rica,  for  the  arbi- 
tration of  all  international  differences. 

Article  I 

rpHE  Republics  of  Central  America  consider 
as  one  of  their  first  duties,  in  their  mutual 
relations,  the  maintenance  of  peace;  and  they 
bind  themselves  to  always  observe  the  most  com- 
plete harmony,  and  decide  every  difference  or 
difficulty  that  may  arise  amongst  them,  of  what- 
soever nature  it  may  be,  by  means  of  the  Central 
American  Court  of  Justice,  created  by  the  Con- 
vention which  they  have  concluded  for  that  pur- 
pose on  this  date. 


307 


308 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Article  II 

Desiring  to  secure  in  the  Republics  of  Central 
America  the  benefits  which  are  derived  from  the 
maintenance  of  their  institutions,  and  to  con- 
tribute at  the  same  time  in  strengthening  their 
stability  and  the  prestige  with  which  they  ought 
to  be  surrounded,  it  is  declared  that  every  dispo- 
sition or  measure  which  may  tend  to  alter  the 
constitutional  organization  in  any  of  them  is  to 
be  deemed  a menace  to  the  peace  of  said  Re- 
publics. 

Article  III 

Taking  into  account  the  central  geographical 
position  of  Honduras  and  the  facilities  which 
owing  to  this  circumstance  have  made  its  territory 
most  often  the  theater  of  Central  American  con- 
flicts, Honduras  declares  from  now  on  its  abso- 
lute neutrality  in  event  of  any  conflict  between 
the  other  Republics;  and  the  latter,  in  their  turn, 
provided  such  neutrality  be  observed,  bind  them- 
selves to  respect  it  and  in  no  case  to  violate  the 
Honduranean  territory. 

Article  IV 

Bearing  in  mind  the  advantages  which  must 
be  gained  from  the  creation  of  Central  American 
institutions  for  the  development  of  their  most 


GENERAL  TREATY 


309 


vital  interests,  besides  the  Pedagogical  Institute 
and  the  International  Central  American  Bureau 
which  are  to  be  established  according  to  the  Con- 
ventions concluded  to  that  end  by  this  Confer- 
ence, the  creation  of  a practical  Agricultural 
School  in  the  Republic  of  Salvador,  one  of  Mines 
and  Mechanics  in  that  of  Honduras,  and  another 
of  Arts  and  Trades  in  that  of  Nicaragua,  is  espe- 
cially recommended  to  the  Governments. 

Article  V 

In  order  to  cultivate  the  relations  between  the 
States,  the  contracting  Parties  obligate  them- 
selves each  to  accredit  to  the  others  a permanent 
Legation. 

Article  VI 

The  citizens  of  one  of  the  contracting  Parties, 
residing  in  the  territory  of  any  of  the  others,  shall 
enjoy  the  same  civil  rights  as  are  enjoyed  by  na- 
tionals, and  shall  be  considered  as  citizens  in  the 
country  of  their  residence  if  they  fulfil  the  condi- 
tions which  the  respective  constituent  laws  pro- 
vide. Those  that  are  not  naturalized  shall  be 
exempt  from  obligatory  military  service,  either  on 
sea  or  land,  and  from  every  forced  loan  or  military 
requisition,  and  they  shall  not  be  obliged  on  any 
account  to  pay  greater  contributions  or  ordinary 
or  extraordinary  imposts  than  those  which  natives 
pay. 


310 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Article  VII 

The  individuals  who  have  acquired  a profes- 
sional degree  in  any  of  the  contracting  Republics, 
may,  without  special  exaction,  practice  their  pro- 
fessions, in  accordance  with  the  respective  laws, 
in  any  one  of  the  others,  without  other  require- 
ments than  those  of  presenting  the  respective  de- 
gree or  diploma  properly  authenticated  and  of 
proving,  in  case  of  necessity,  their  personal 
identity  and  of  obtaining  a permit  from  the 
Executive  Power  where  the  law  so  requires. 

In  like  manner  shall  validity  attach  to  the 
scientific  studies  pursued  in  the  universities,  pro- 
fessional schools,  and  the  schools  of  higher  edu- 
cation of  any  one  of  the  contracting  countries, 
provided  the  documents  which  evidence  such 
studies  have  been  authenticated,  and  the  identity 
of  the  person  proved. 

Article  VIII 

Citizens  of  the  signatory  countries  who  reside 
in  the  territory  of  the  others  shall  enjoy  the  right 
of  literary,  artistic  or  industrial  property  in  the 
same  manner  and  subject  to  the  same  require- 
ments as  natives. 


Article  IX 

The  merchant  ships  of  the  signatory  countries 
shall  be  considered  upon  the  sea,  along  the  coasts, 


GENERAL  TREATY 


311 


and  in  the  ports  of  said  countries  as  national  ves- 
sels; they  shall  enjoy  the  same  exemptions,  im- 
munities and  concessions  as  the  latter,  and  shall 
not  pay  other  dues  nor  be  subject  to  further  taxes 
than  those  imposed  upon  and  paid  by  the  vessels 
of  the  country. 

Article  X 

The  Governments  of  the  contracting  Repub- 
lics bind  themselves  to  respect  the  inviolability  of 
the  right  of  asylum  aboard  the  merchant  vessels 
of  whatsoever  nationality  anchored  in  their  ports. 
Therefore,  only  persons  accused  of  common 
crimes  can  be  taken  from  them  after  due  legal 
procedure  and  by  order  of  the  competent  judge. 
Those  prosecuted  on  account  of  political  crimes 
or  common  crimes  in  connection  with  political 
ones,  can  only  be  taken  therefrom  in  case  they 
have  embarked  in  a port  of  the  State  which  claims 
them,  during  their  stay  in  its  jurisdictional 
waters,  and  after  the  requirements  hereinbefore 
set  forth  in  the  case  of  common  crimes  have  been 
fulfilled. 

Article  XI 

The  Diplomatic  and  Consular- Agents  of  the 
contracting  Republics  in  foreign  cities,  towns  and 
ports  shall  afford  to  the  persons,  vessels  and 
other  property  of  the  citizens  of  any  one  of  them, 
the  same  protection  as  to  the  persons,  ships  and 


su 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


other  properties  of  their  compatriots,  without  de- 
manding for  their  services  other  or  higher  charges 
than  those  usually  made  with  respect  to  their 
nationals. 

Article  XII 

In  the  desire  of  promoting  commerce  between 
the  contracting  Republics,  their  respective  Gov- 
ernments shall  agree  upon  the  establishment  of 
national  merchant  marines  engaged  in  coastwise 
commerce  and  the  arrangements  to  be  made  with 
and  the  subsidies  to  be  granted  to  steamship  com- 
panies engaged  in  the  trade  between  national  and 
foreign  ports. 

Article  XIII 

There  shall  be  a complete  and  regular  ex- 
change of  every  class  of  official  publications  be- 
tween the  contracting  Parties. 

Article  XIV 

Public  instruments  executed  in  one  of  the  con- 
tracting Republics  shall  be  valid  in  the  others, 
provided  they  shall  have  been  properly  authenti- 
cated and  in  their  execution  the  laws  of  the  Re- 
public whence  they  issue  shall  have  been  observed. 

Article  XV 

The  judicial  authorities  of  the  contracting  Re- 
publics shall  carry  out  the  judicial  commissions 


GENERAL  TREATY 


313 


and  warrants  in  civil,  commercial  or  criminal 
matters,  with  regard  to  citations,  interrogatories 
and  other  acts  of  procedure  or  judicial  function. 

Other  judicial  acts,  in  civil  or  commercial  mat- 
ters, arising  out  of  a personal  suit,  shall  have  in 
the  territory  of  any  one  of  the  contracting  Parties 
equal  force  with  those  of  the  local  tribunals  and 
shall  be  executed  in  the  same  manner,  provided 
always  that  they  shall  first  have  been  declared 
executory  by  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  the  Re- 
public wherein  they  are  to  be  executed,  which 
shall  be  done  if  they  meet  the  essential  require- 
ments of  their  respective  legislation  and  they 
shall  be  carried  out  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
enacted  in  each  country  for  the  execution  of 
judgments. 

Article  XVI 

Desiring  to  prevent  one  of  the  most  frequent 
causes  of  disturbances  in  the  Republics,  the  con- 
tracting Governments  shall  not  permit  the  lead- 
ers or  principal  chiefs  of  political  refugees,  nor 
their  agents,  to  reside  in  the  departments  border- 
ing on  the  countries  whose  peace  they  might  dis- 
turb. 

Those  who  may  have  established  their  perma- 
nent residence  in  a frontier  department  may  re- 
main in  the  place  of  their  residence  under  the 
immediate  surveillance  of  the  Government  afford- 
ing them  an  asylum,  but  from  the  moment  when 


314. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


they  become  a menace  to  public  order  they  shall 
be  included  in  the  rule  of  the  preceding  para- 
graph. 

Article  XVII 

Every  person,  no  matter  what  his  nationality, 
who,  within  the  territory  of  one  of  the  contracting 
Parties,  shall  initiate  or  foster  revolutionary 
movements  against  any  of  the  others,  shall  be 
immediately  brought  to  the  capital  of  the  Repub- 
lic, where  he  shall  be  submitted  to  trial  according 
to  law. 

Article  XVIII 

With  respect  to  the  Bureau  of  Central  Ameri- 
can Republics  which  shall  be  established  in 
Guatemala,  and  wTith  respect  to  the  Pedagogical 
Institute  which  is  to  be  created  in  Costa  Rica,  the 
Conventions  celebrated  to  that  end  shall  be  ob- 
served, and  those  that  refer  to  Extradition,  Com- 
munications, and  Annual  Conferences,  shall  re- 
main in  full  force  for  the  unification  of  Central 
American  interests. 

Article  XIX 

The  present  Treaty  shall  remain  in  force  for 
the  term  of  ten  years  counted  from  the  day  of  the 
exchange  of  ratifications.  Nevertheless,  if  one 
year  before  the  expiration  of  said  term,  none  of 
the  contracting  Parties  shall  have  given  special 


GENERAL  TREATY 


315 


notice  to  the  others  concerning  its  intention  to 
terminate  it,  it  shall  remain  in  force  until  one  year 
after  such  notification  shall  have  been  made. 

Article  XX 

The  stipulations  of  the  Treaties  heretofore  con- 
cluded among  the  contracting  Countries,  being 
comprised  or  suitably  modified  in  this,  it  is  de- 
clared that  all  stipulations  remain  void  and  re- 
voked by  the  present,  after  final  approval  and 
exchange  of  ratifications. 

Article  XXI 

The  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  present 
Treaty,  as  well  as  that  of  the  other  Conventions 
of  this  date,  shall  be  made  by  means  of  communi- 
cations which  are  to  be  addressed  by  the  Govern- 
ments to  that  of  Costa  Rica,  in  order  that  the 
latter  shall  notify  the  other  contracting  States. 
The  Government  of  Costa  Rica  shall  also  com- 
municate its  ratification  if  it  effects  it. 

Signed  at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  December,  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  seven. 


ADDITIONAL  CONVENTION  TO 
THE  GENERAL  TREATY 

Article  I 

The  Governments  of  the  High  Contracting 
Parties  shall  not  recognize  any  other  Government 
which  may  come  into  power  in  any  of  the  five 
Republics  as  a consequence  of  a coup  d’etat,  or 
of  a revolution  against  the  recognized  Govern-  ' 
ment,  so  long  as  the  freely  elected  representatives 
of  the  people  thereof,  have  not  constitutionally 
reorganized  the  country. 

Article  II 

No  Government  of  Central  America  shall  in 
case  of  civil  war  intervene  in  favor  of  or  against 
the  Government  of  the  country  where  the  strug- 
gle takes  place. 

Article  III 

The  Governments  of  Central  America,  in  the 
first  place,  are  recommended  to  endeavor  to  bring 
about,  by  the  means  at  their  command,  a consti- 
tutional reform  in  the  sense  of  prohibiting  the  re- 
election  of  the  President  of  a Republic,  where 

816 


ADDITIONAL  CONVENTION  317 

such  prohibition  does  not  exist,  secondly  to  adopt 
all  measures  necessary  to  effect  a complete  guar- 
antee of  the  principle  of  alternation  in  power. 

Signed  at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  December,  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  seven. 


CONVENTION  FOR  THE  ESTABLISHMENT 
OF  A CENTRAL  AMERICAN 
COURT  OF  JUSTICE 

Article  I 

The  High  Contracting  Parties  agree  by  the 
present  Convention  to  constitute  and  maintain 
a permanent  tribunal  which  shall  be  called  the 
“Central  American  Court  of  Justice,”  to  which 
they  bind  themselves  to  submit  all  controversies 
or  questions  which  may  arise  among  them,  of 
whatsoever  nature  and  no  matter  what  their 
origin  may  be,  in  case  the  respective  Depart- 
ments of  Foreign  Affairs  should  not  have  been 
able  to  reach  an  understanding. 

Article  II 

This  Court  shall  also  take  cognizance  of  the 
questions  which  individuals  of  one  Central  Amer- 
ican country  may  raise  against  any  of  the  other 
contracting  Governments,  because  of  the  viola- 
tion of  treaties  or  conventions,  and  other  cases 
of  an  international  character;  no  matter  whether 
their  own  Government  supports  said  claim  or 
not;  and  provided  that  the  remedies  which  the 
laws  of  the  respective  country  provide  against 

818 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE 


319 


such  violation  shall  have  been  exhausted  or  that 
denial  of  justice  shall  have  been  shown. 

Article  III 

It  shall  also  have  jurisdiction  over  cases  aris- 
ing between  any  of  the  contracting  Governments 
and  individuals,  when  by  common  accord  they  are 
submitted  to  it. 


Article  IV 

The  Court  can  likewise  take  cognizance  of  the 
international  questions  which  by  special  agree- 
ment any  one  of  the  Central  American  Govern- 
ments and  a foreign  Government  may  have  de- 
termined to  submit  to  it. 

Article  V 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  shall 
sit  at  the  City  of  Cartago  in  the  Republic  of  Costa 
Rica,  but  it  may  temporarily  transfer  its  resi- 
dence to  another  point  in  Central  America 
whenever  it  deems  it  expedient  for  reasons  of 
health,  or  in  order  to  insure  the  exercise  of  its 
functions,  or  of  the  personal  safety  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

Article  VI 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  shall 
consist  of  five  Justices,  one  being  appointed  by 


320 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


each  Republic  and  selected  from  among  the 
jurists  who  possess  the  qualifications  which  the 
laws  of  each  country  prescribe  for  the  exercise  of 
high  judicial  office,  and  who  enjoy  the  highest 
consideration,  both  because  of  their  moral  char- 
acter and  their  professional  ability. 

Vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  substitute  Justices, 
named  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  regular  Justices  and  who  shall  unite  the 
same  qualifications  as  the  latter. 

The  attendance  of  the  five  Justices  who  con- 
stitute the  Tribunal  is  indispensable  in  order  to 
make  a legal  quorum  in  the  decisions  of  the  Court. 

Article  VII 

The  Legislative  Power  of  each  one  of  the  five 
contracting  Republics  shall  appoint  their  respect- 
ive Justices,  one  regular  and  two  substitutes. 

The  salary  of  each  Justice  shall  be  eight  thou- 
sand dollars,  gold,  per  annum,  which  shall  be  paid 
them  by  the  Treasury  of  the  Court.  The  salary 
of  the  Justice  of  the  country  where  the  Court  re- 
sides shall  be  fixed  by  the  Government  thereof. 
Furthermore  each  State  shall  contribute  twro 
thousand  dollars,  gold,  annually  toward  the  or- 
dinary and  extraordinary  expenses  of  the  Tri- 
bunal. The  Governments  of  the  contracting 
Republics  bind  themselves  to  include  their  re- 
spective contributions  in  their  estimates  of  ex- 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE 


321 


penses  and  to  remit  quarterly  in  advance  to  the 
Treasury  of  the  Court  the  share  they  may  have 
to  bear  on  account  of  such  services. 

Article  VIII 

The  regular  and  substitute  Justices  shall  be 
appointed  for  a term  of  five  years,  which  shall  be 
counted  from  the  day  on  which  they  assume  the 
duties  of  their  office,  and  they  may  be  re-elected. 

In  case  of  death,  resignation  or  permanent  in- 
capacity of  any  of  them,  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled 
by  the  respective  Legislature,  and  the  Justice 
elected  shall  complete  the  term  of  his  predecessor. 

Article  IX 

The  regular  and  substitute  Justices  shall  take 
oath  or  make  affirmation  prescribed  by  law  be- 
fore the  authority  that  may  have  appointed  them, 
and  from  that  moment  they  shall  enjoy  the  im- 
munities and  prerogatives  which  the  present  Con- 
vention confers  upon  them.  The  regular  Justices 
shall  likewise  enjoy  thenceforth  the  salary  fixed  in 
Article  VII. 

Article  X 

Whilst  they  remain  in  the  country  of  their  ap- 
pointment the  regular  and  substitute  Justices 
shall  enjoy  the  personal  immunity  which  the  re- 
spective laws  grant  to  the  magistrates  of  the 


322 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Supreme  Court  of  Justice,  and  in  the  other  con- 
tracting Republics  they  shall  have  the  privileges 
and  immunities  of  Diplomatic  Agents. 

Article  XI 

The  office  of  Justice  whilst  held  is  incompatible 
with  the  exercise  of  his  profession,  and  with  the 
holding  of  public  office.  The  same  incompati- 
bility applies  to  the  substitute  Justices  so  long 
as  they  may  actually  perform  their  duties. 

Article  XII 

At  its  first  annual  session  the  Court  shall  elect 
from  among  its  own  members  a President  and 
Vice-President;  it  shall  organize  the  personnel 
of  its  office  by  designating  a Clerk,  a Treasurer, 
and  such  other  subordinate  employees  as  it  may 
deem  necessary,  and  it  shall  draw  up  the  estimate 
of  its  expenses. 


Article  XIII 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  repre- 
sents the  national  conscience  of  Central  America, 
wherefore  the  Justices  who  compose  the  Tribunal 
shall  not  consider  themselves  barred  from  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties  because  of  the  interest 
which  the  Republics,  to  which  they  owe  their  ap- 
pointment, may  have  in  any  case  or  question. 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE 


323 


With  regard  to  allegations  of  personal  interest, 
the  rules  of  procedure  which  the  Court  may  fix, 
shall  make  proper  provision. 

Article  XIV 

When  differences  or  questions  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Tribunal  arise,  the  interested 
party  shall  present  a complaint  which  shall  com- 
prise all  the  points  of  fact  and  law'  relative  to  the 
matter,  and  all  pertinent  evidence.  The  Tribunal 
shall  communicate  without  loss  of  time  a copy  of 
the  complaint  to  the  Governments  or  individuals 
interested,  and  shall  invite  them  to  furnish  their 
allegations  and  evidence  w’ithin  the  term  that  it 
may  designate  to  them,  which,  in  no  case,  shall 
exceed  sixty  days  counted  from  the  date  of  notice 
of  the  complaint. 


Article  XV 

If  the  term  designated  shall  have  expired  with- 
out answer  having  been  made  to  the  complaint, 
the  Court  shall  require  the  complainant  or  com- 
plainants to  do  so  within  a further  term  not  to 
exceed  twenty  days,  after  the  expiration  of  which 
and  in  view  of  the  evidence  presented  and  of 
such  evidence  as  it  may  ex  officio  have  seen  fit  to 
obtain,  the  Tribunal  shall  render  its  decision  in 
the  case,  which  decision  shall  be  final. 


324. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Article  XVI 

If  the  Government,  Governments,  or  individu- 
als sued  shall  have  appeared  in  time  before  the 
Court,  presenting  their  allegations  and  evidence, 
the  Court  shall  decide  the  matter  within  thirty 
days  following,  without  further  process  or  pro- 
ceedings; but  if  a new  term  for  the  presentation 
of  evidence  be  solicited,  the  Court  shall  decide 
whether  or  not  there  is  occasion  to  grant  it;  and 
in  the  affirmative  it  shall  fix  therefor  a reasonable 
time.  Upon  the  expiration  of  such  term,  the 
Court  shall  pronounce  its  final  judgment  within 
thirty  days. 

Article  XVII 

Each  one  of  the  Governments  or  individuals 
directly  concerned  in  the  questions  to  be  consid- 
ered by  the  Court  has  the  right  to  be  represented 
before  it  by  a trustworthy  person  or  persons,  who 
shall  present  evidence,  formulate  arguments,  and 
shall,  within  the  terms  fixed  by  this  Convention 
and  by  the  rules  of  the  Court  of  Justice  do  every- 
thing that  in  their  judgment  shall  be  beneficial 
to  the  defense  of  the  rights  they  represent. 

Article  XVIII 

From  the  moment  in  which  any  suit  is  insti- 
tuted against  any  one  or  more  Governments  up 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE  325 

to  that  in  which  a final  decision  has  been  pro- 
nounced, the  Court  may  at  the  solicitation  of  any 
one  of  the  parties  fix  the  situation  in  which  the 
contending  parties  must  remain,  to  the  end  that 
the  difficulty  shall  not  be  aggravated  and  that 
things  shall  be  conserved  in  statu  quo  pending  a 
final  decision. 


Article  XIX 

For  all  the  effects  of  this  Convention,  the  Cen- 
tral American  Court  of  Justice  may  address  it- 
self to  the  Governments  or  tribunals  of  justice 
of  the  contracting  States,  through  the  medium  of 
the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Relations  or  the  office 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  of 
the  respective  country,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  requisite  proceeding,  in  order  to  have  the 
measures  that  it  may  dictate  within  the  scope  of 
its  jurisdiction  carried  out. 

Article  XX 

It  may  also  appoint  special  commissioners  to 
carry  out  the  formalities  above  referred  to,  when 
it  deems  it  expedient  for  their  better  fulfilment. 
In  such  case,  it  shall  ask  of  the  Government  where 
the  proceeding  is  to  be  had,  its  co-operation  and 
assistance,  in  order  that  the  Commissioner  may 
fulfil  his  mission.  The  contracting  Governments 
formally  bind  themselves  to  obey  and  to  enforce 


326 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


the  orders  of  the  Court,  furnishing  all  the  assist- 
ance that  may  be  necessary  for  their  best  and  most 
expeditious  fulfilment. 

Article  XXI 

In  deciding  points  of  fact  that  may  be  raised 
before  it,  the  Central  American  Court  of  Justice 
shall  be  governed  by  its  free  judgment,  and  with 
respect  to  points  of  law,  by  the  principles  of  In- 
ternational Law.  The  final  judgment  shall  cover 
each  one  of  the  points  in  litigation. 

Article  XXII 

The  Court  is  competent  to  determine  its  juris- 
diction, interpreting  the  Treaties  and  Conven- 
tions germane  to  the  matter  in  dispute,  and  ap- 
plying the  principles  of  international  law. 

Article  XXIII 

Every  final  or  interlocutory  decision  shall  be 
rendered  with  the  concurrence  of  at  least  three  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Court.  In  case  of  disagree- 
ment, one  of  the  substitute  Justices  shall  be 
chosen  by  lot,  and  if  still  a majority  of  three  be 
not  thus  obtained  other  Justices  shall  be  success- 
ively chosen  by  lot  until  three  uniform  votes  shall 
have  been  obtained. 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE 


327 


Article  XXIV 

The  decisions  must  be  in  writing  and  shall  con- 
tain a statement  of  the  reasons  upon  which  they 
are  based.  They  must  be  signed  by  all  the  J us- 
tices  of  the  Court  and  countersigned  by  the  Clerk. 
Once  they  have  been  notified  they  can  not  be  al- 
tered on  any  account;  but,  at  the  request  of  any 
of  the  parties,  the  Tribunal  may  declare  the  in- 
terpretation which  must  be  given  to  its  judg- 
ments. 

Article  XXV 

The  judgments  of  the  Court  shall  be  communi- 
cated to  the  five  Governments  of  the  contracting 
Republics.  The  interested  parties  solemnly  bind 
themselves  to  submit  to  said  judgments,  and  all 
agree  to  lend  all  moral  support  that  may  be  neces- 
sary in  order  that  they  may  be  properly  fulfilled, 
thereby  constituting  a real  and  positive  guarantee 
of  respect  for  this  Convention  and  for  the  Central 
American  Court  of  Justice. 

Article  XXVI 

The  Court  is  empowered  to  make  its  rules,  to 
formulate  the  rules  of  procedure  which  may  be 
necessary,  and  to  determine  the  forms  and  terms 
not  prescribed  in  the  present  Convention.  All 
the  decisions  which  may  be  rendered  in  this  re- 
spect shall  be  communicated  immediately  to  the 
High  Contracting  Parties. 


328 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Article  XXVII 

The  High  Contracting  Parties  solemnly  de- 
clare that  on  no  ground  nor  in  any  case  will  they 
consider  the  present  Convention  as  void ; and  that, 
therefore,  they  will  consider  it  as  being  always 
in  force  during  the  term  of  ten  years  counted 
from  the  last  ratification.  In  the  event  of  the 
change  of  alteration  of  the  political  status  of  one 
or  more  of  the  Contracting  Republics,  the  func- 
tions of  the  Central  American  Court  of  Justice 
created  by  this  Convention  shall  be  suspended 
ipso  facto;  and  a conference  to  adjust  the  consti- 
tution of  said  Court  to  the  new  order  of  things 
shall  be  forthwith  convoked  by  the  respective 
Governments;  in  case  they  do  not  unanimously 
agree  the  present  Convention  shall  be  considered 
as  rescinded. 


Article  XXVIII 

The  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  present 
Convention  shall  be  made  in  accordance  with 
Article  XXI  of  the  General  Treaty  of  Peace 
and  Amity  concluded  on  this  date. 

Provisional  Article 

As  recommended  by  the  five  Delegations  an 
Article  is  annexed  which  contains  an  amplifica- 
tion of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Central  American 


COURT  OF  JUSTICE 


329 


Court  of  Justice,  in  order  that  the  Legislatures 
may,  if  they  see  fit,  include  it  in  this  Convention 
upon  ratifying  it. 

Annexed  Article 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  shall 
also  have  jurisdiction  over  the  conflicts  which 
may  arise  between  the  Legislative,  Executive  and 
Judicial  Powers,  and  when  as  a matter  of  fact 
the  judicial  decisions  and  resolutions  of  the  Na- 
tional Congress  are  not  respected. 


APPENDIX  B 


Letter  of  Secretary  of  State  Knox , returning  the 
passports  of  Felipe  Rodriguez,  Minister 
from  Nicaragua  to  the  United  States. 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  December  1,  1909. 
OIR:  Since  the  Washington  conventions  of 

^ 1907  it  is  notorious  that  President  Zelaya 

has  almost  continually  kept  Central  America  in 
tension  of  turmoil,  that  he  has  repeatedly  and 
flagrantly  violated  the  provisions  of  the  conven- 
tions, and  by  a baleful  influence  upon  Honduras, 
whose  neutrality  the  conventions  were  to  assure, 
has  sought  to  discredit  those  sacred  international 
obligations  to  the  great  detriment  of  Costa  Rica, 
El  Salvador  and  Guatemala,  whose  Governments 
meanwhile  appear  to  have  been  able  patiently  to 
strive  for  the  loyal  support  of  the  engagements 
so  solemnly  undertaken  at  Washington  under  the 
auspices  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

It  is  equally  a matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  under  the  regime  of  President  Zelaya  repub- 
lican institutions  have  ceased  in  Nicaragua  to 
exist  except  in  name ; that  public  opinion  and  the 

830 


LETTER  OF  SECRETARY  KNOX  331 


press  have  been  throttled,  and  that  prison  has 
been  the  reward  of  any  tendency  to  real  patriot- 
ism. My  consideration  for  you  personally  impels 
me  to  abstain  from  unnecessary  discussion  of  the 
painful  details  of  a regime  which  unfortunately 
has  been  a blot  upon  the  history  of  Nicaragua  and 
a discouragement  to  a group  of  republics  whose 
aspirations  need  only  the  opportunity  of  free  and 
honest  Government. 

In  view  of  the  interests  of  the  United  States 
and  of  its  relation  to  the  Washington  conven- 
tions, appeal  against  this  situation  has  long  since 
been  made  to  this  Government  by  a majority  of 
the  Central  American  republics.  There  is  now 
added  the  appeal,  through  the  revolution,  of  a 
great  body  of  the  Nicaraguan  people.  Two 
Americans,  who  this  Government  is  now  con- 
vinced were  officers  connected  with  the  revolution- 
ary forces  and,  therefore,  entitled  to  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  enlightened  practice  of  civilized 
nations,  have  been  killed  by  direct  order  of  Presi- 
dent Zelaya.  Their  execution  is  said  to  have  been 
preceded  by  barbarous  cruelties.  The  Consulate 
at  Managua  is  now  officially  reported  to  have 
been  menaced. 

There  is  thus  a sinister  culmination  of  an  ad- 
ministration also  characterized  by  a cruelty  to 
its  own  citizens,  which  has,  until  the  recent  out- 
rage, found  vent  in  the  case  of  this  country  in  a 
succession  of  petty  annoyances  and  indignities 


333 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


which  many  months  ago  made  it  impossible  to 
ask  an  American  Minister  longer  to  reside  at 
Managua.  From  every  point  of  view  it  has  evi- 
dently become  difficult  for  the  United  States  fur- 
ther to  delay  more  active  response  to  the  appeals 
so  long  made  to  its  duty  to  its  citizens,  to  its  dig- 
nity, to  Central  America,  and  to  civilization. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  con- 
vinced that  the  revolution  represents  the  ideals 
and  the  will  of  a majority  of  the  Nicaraguan  peo- 
ple more  faithfully  than  does  the  Government  of 
President  Zelaya,  and  that  its  peaceable  control 
is  well  nigh  as  extensive  as  that  hitherto  so  sternly 
attempted  by  the  Government  at  Managua. 

There  is  now  added  the  fact,  as  officially  re- 
ported from  more  than  one  quarter,  that  there  are 
already  indications  of  a rising  in  the  western 
provinces  in  favor  of  a Presidential  candidate 
intimately  associated  with  the  old  regime.  In 
this  it  is  easy  to  see  new  elements  tending  toward 
a condition  of  anarchy,  which  leaves  at  a given 
time  no  definite  responsible  source  to  which  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  could  look  for 
reparation  for  the  killing  of  Messrs.  Cannon  and 
Groce,  or,  indeed,  for  the  protection  which  must 
be  assured  American  citizens  and  American  in- 
terests in  Nicaragua. 

In  these  circumstances  the  President  no  longer 
feels  for  the  Government  of  President  Zelaya 
that  respect  and  confidence  which  would  make  it 


LETTER  OF  SECRETARY  KNOX  333 


appropriate  hereafter  to  maintain  with  it  regular 
diplomatic  relations,  implying  the  will  and  the 
ability  to  respect  and  assure  what  is  due  from 
one  State  to  another. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua,  which  you  have 
hitherto  represented,  is  hereby  notified,  as  will  he 
also  the  leaders  of  the  revolution,  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  will  hold  strictly 
accountable  for  the  protection  of  American  life 
and  property  the  faction  de  facto  in  control  of 
the  eastern  and  western  provinces  of  the  Republic 
of  Nicaragua. 

As  for  the  reparation  found  due,  after  careful 
consideration,  for  the  killing  of  Messrs.  Groce 
and  Cannon,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  would  be  loath  to  impose  upon  the  inno- 
cent people  of  Nicaragua  a too  heavy  burden  of 
expiating  the  acts  of  a regime  forced  upon  them, 
or  to  exact  from  a succeeding  Government,  if  it 
have  quite  different  policies,  the  imposition  of 
such  a burden. 

Into  the  question  of  ultimate  reparation  there 
must  enter  the  question  of  the  existence  at 
Managua  of  a Government  capable  of  respond- 
ing to  demands.  There  must  enter  also  the  ques- 
tion how  far  it  is  possible  to  reach  those  actually 
responsible  and  those  who  perpetrated  the  tor- 
tures reported  to  have  preceded  the  execution, 
if  these  be  verified,  and  the  question  whether  the 
Government  be  one  entirely  dissociated  from  the 


334. 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


present  intolerable  conditions  and  worthy  to  be 
trusted  to  make  impossible  a recurrence  of  such 
acts,  in  which  case  the  President,  as  a friend  of 
your  country,  as  he  is  also  of  the  other  republics 
of  Central  America,  might  be  disposed  to  have 
indemnity  confined  to  what  was  reasonably  due 
the  relatives  of  the  deceased  and  punitive  only  in 
so  far  as  the  punishment  might  fall  where  really 
due. 

In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  will  temporarily  withhold  its 
demand  for  reparation,  in  the  meanwhile  taking 
such  steps  as  it  deems  wise  and  proper  to  protect 
American  interests. 

To  insure  the  future  protection  of  legitimate 
American  interests,  in  consideration  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  majority  of  the  Central  American  re- 
publics, and  in  the  hope  of  making  more  effective 
the  friendly  offices  exerted  under  the  Washing- 
ton conventions,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  reserves  for  further  consideration  at  the 
proper  time  the  question  of  stipulating  also  that 
the  Constitutional  Government  of  Nicaragua 
obligate  itself  by  convention  for  the  benefit  of  all 
the  Governments  concerned  as  a guarantee  for  its 
future  loyal  support  of  the  Washington  conven- 
tions and  their  peaceful  and  progressive  aims. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  apparent  to  you 
that  your  office  of  charge  d’affaires  is  at  an  end. 
I have  the  honor  to  inclose  your  passports  for 


LETTER  OF  SECRETARY  KNOX  335 


use  in  case  you  desire  to  leave  this  country.  I 
would  add  at  the  same  time  that,  although  your 
diplomatic  quality  is  terminated,  I shall  be  happy 
to  receive  you,  as  I shall  be  happy  to  receive  the 
representative  of  the  revolution,  each  as  the  un- 
official channel  of  communication  between  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  dc 
facto  authorities  to  whom  I look  for  the  protection 
of  American  interests  pending  the  establishment 
in  Nicaragua  of  a government  with  which  the 
United  States  can  maintain  diplomatic  relations. 

Accept,  Sir,  the  renewed  assurances  of  my  high 
consideration. 

(Signed)  P.  C.  Knox. 

To  Felipe  Rodriguez,  Esq.,  Washington,  D.  C. 


APPENDIX  C 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 

^AN  December  2,  1823,  in  his  annual  message 
to  Congress,  President  Monroe  submitted 
the  following  recommendation,  which  has  since 
borne  his  name : 

“At  the  proposal  of  the  Russian  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment, made  through  the  minister  of  the  Em- 
peror residing  here,  a full  power  and  instructions 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  minister  of  the 
United  States  at  St.  Petersburg  to  arrange  by 
amicable  negotiation  the  respective  rights  and 
interests  of  the  two  nations  on  the  northwest  coast 
of  this  continent.  A similar  proposal  had  been 
made  by  his  Imperial  Majesty  to  the  Government 
of  Great  Britain,  which  has  likewise  been  acceded 
to.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
been  desirous  by  this  friendly  proceeding  of 
manifesting  the  great  value  which  they  have  in- 
variably attached  to  the  friendship  of  the  Em- 
peror and  their  solicitude  to  cultivate  the  best 
understanding  with  his  government.  In  the  dis- 
cussions to  which  this  interest  has  given  rise  and 
in  the  arrangements  by  which  they  may  terminate 

336 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 


837 


the  occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  assert- 
ing, as  a principle  in  which  the  rights  and  inter- 
ests of  the  United  States  are  involved,  that  the 
American  continents,by  the  free  and  independent 
condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain, 
are  henceforth  not  to  he  considered  as  subjects 
for  future  colonization  by  any  Europeon  pow- 
ers. . . . 

“It  was  stated  at  the  commencement  of  the  last 
session  that  a great  effort  was  then  making  in 
Spain  and  Portugal  to  improve  the  condition  of 
the  people  of  those  countries,  and  that  it  appeared 
to  be  conducted  with  extraordinary  moderation. 
It  need  scarcely  be  remarked  that  the  result  has 
been  so  far  very  different  from  what  was  then 
anticipated.  Of  events  in  that  quarter  of  the 

globe,  with  which  we  have  so  much  inter- 

course and  from  which  we  derive  our  origin, 
we  have  always  been  anxious  and  inter- 

ested spectators.  The  citizens  of  the  United 
States  cherish  sentiments  the  most  friendly  in 
favor  of  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  their  fellow- 
men  on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  wrars  of 
the  European  powers  in  matters  relating  to  them- 
selves we  have  never  taken  any  part,  nor  does  it 
comport  with  our  policy  so  to  do.  It  is  only  when 
our  rights  are  invaded  or  seriously  menaced  that 
we  resent  injuries  or  make  preparation  for  our 
defense.  With  the  movements  in  this  hemisphere 
we  are  of  necessity  more  immediately  connected, 


338 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


and  by  causes  which  must  be  obvious  to  all  en- 
lightened and  impartial  observers.  The  political 
system  of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different 
in  this  respect  from  that  of  America.  This  dif- 
ference proceeds  from  that  which  exists  in  their 
respective  governments;  and  to  the  defense  of 
our  own,  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  loss  of 
so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  matured  by  the 
wisdom  of  their  most  enlightened  citizens,  and 
under  which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled  fe- 
licity, this  whole  nation  is  devoted.  We  owe  it, 
therefore,  to  candor  and  to  the  amicable  relations 
existing  between  the  United  States  and  those 
powers,  to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any 
attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to 
any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to 
our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colonies 
or  dependencies  of  any  European  power  we  have 
not  interfered  and  shall  not  interfere.  But  with 
the  governments  who  have  declared  their  inde- 
pendencce  and  maintained  it,  and  whose  inde- 
pendence we  have,  on  great  consideration  and  on 
just  principles„acknowledged,  we  could  not  view 
any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing 
them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their 
destiny,  by  any  European  power  in  any  other 
light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States.  In  the 
war  between  those  new  governments  and  Spain 
we  declared  our  neutrality  at  the  time  of  their 


THE  MONliOE  DOCTRINE 


339 


recognition,  and  to  this  we  have  adhered,  and  shall 
continue  to  adhere,  provided  no  change  shall 
occur  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  competent 
authorities  of  this  government,  shall  make  a cor- 
responding change  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  indispensable  to  their  security. 

“The  late  events  in  Spain  and  Portugal  show 
that  Europe  is  still  unsettled.  Of  this  important 
fact  no  stronger  proof  can  be  adduced  than  that 
the  Allied  Powers  should  have  thought  it  proper, 
on  any  principle  satisfactory  to  themselves,  to 
have  interposed  by  force  in  the  internal  concerns 
of  Spain.  To  what  extent  such  interposition  may1 
be  carried,  on  the  same  principle,  is  a question  in 
wdrich  all  independent  powers  whose  governments 
differ  from  theirs  are  interested,  even  those  most 
remote,  and  surely  none  more  so  than  the  United 
States.  Our  policy  in  regard  to  Europe,  which 
■was  adopted  at  an  early  stage  of  the  wars  which 
have  so  long  agitated  that  quarter  of  the  globe, 
nevertheless  remains  the  same,  which  is,  not  to 
interfere  in  the  internal  concerns  of  any  of  its 
Powers;  to  consider  the  government  de  facto  as 
the  legitimate  government  for  us;  to  cultivate 
friendly  relations  with  it,  and  to  preserve  those 
relations  by  a frank,  firm  and  manly  policy,  meet- 
ing, in  all  instances,  the  just  claims  of  every 
power,  submitting  to  injuries  from  none.  But 
in  regard  to  these  continents  circumstances  are 
eminently  and  conspicuously  different.  It  is  im- 


340 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


possible  that  the  Allied  Powers  should  extend 
their  political  system  to  any  portion  of  either 
continent  without  endangering  our  peace  and 
happiness ; nor  can  any  one  believe  that  our  south- 
ern brethren,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  adopt  it 
of  their  own  accord.  It  is  equally  impossible, 
therefore,  that  we  should  behold  such  interposi- 
tion in  any  form  with  indifference.  If  we  look  to 
the  comparative  strength  and  resources  of  Spain 
and  those  new  governments,  and  their  distance 
from  each  other,  it  must  be  obvious  that  she  can 
never  subdue  them.  It  is  still  the  true  policy  of 
the  United  States  to  leave  the  parties  to  them- 
selves, in  the  hope  that  other  powers  will  pursue 
the  same  course.” 


CENTRAL  AMERICAN  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Arnold  and  Frost:  The  American  Egypt-  1909. 

Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe:  History  of  the  Pacific  States.  1883. 
Barrantes,  Francisco  M.:  Elements  of  the  History  of  Costa 
Rica.  1892. 

Brigham,  William  T.:  Oautemala,  the  Land  of  the  Quetzal. 
1887. 

Brinton,  Daniel  G.:  Yucatan. 

Casas,  Bishop  de  Las:  Spanish  Invasion  of  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral America  and  Many  Other  Works.  1699. 

Charles,  Cecil:  Honduras,  the  Land  of  Great  Depths.  1890. 
Chabnet,  Desir£  : The  Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World.  1887. 
Coran  ado,  Juan  V.:  Cartas  de  Conquistador  de  Costa  Rica. 

1908. 

Crichfield,  George  W. : American  Supremacy.  1908. 

Davis,  R.  H.:  Three  Gringos  in  Venezuela.  1896. 

Diaz  del  Castillo,  Bernal:  True  History  of  the  Conquest  of 
New  Spain.  1844. 

Dunn,  Henry:  Guatemala  in  1827-8. 

Fancourt,  C.  St.  John:  History  of  Yucatan.  1854. 

Fisher,  Horace  N.:  Ethnology  and  Commercial  Importance 
of  Latin  America  and  the  West  Indies.  Senate  Document. 

1909. 

Frcebel,  Julius:  Seven  Years’  Travel  in  Central  America, 

Northern  Mexico.  1859. 

G6mez,  Josfi  de:  Historia  de  Nicaragua.  1889. 

Guardla,  Ricabdo  F.:  El  Descubrimiento  y la  Conquista  de 
Costa  Rica.  1905. 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von:  Political  Essay  on  New  Spain. 
1811. 

Keane,  A.  H.:  Compendium  of  Geography  of  Central  America 
and  West  Indies.  1901. 

La  Ferriere,  J.:  De  Paris  d Guatemala.  1877. 

Marure,  A.:  Memories  para  la  Historia  de  la  Revolution  de 
Centro- America. 


341 


342  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Maudsley,  A.  C.  and  A.  P.:  Glimpse  at  Guatemala.  1899. 
Mendoza,  Juan  M. : Una  Vez  por  Todos.  1902. 

Morelet,  Chevalier  Arthur:  Travels  in  Central  America. 

1871. 

Morlan,  A.  P.:  A Hoosier  in  Honduras.  1897. 

Publications  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Republics. 

Ruhl,  Arthur:  The  Other  Americans  (.South  America).  1908. 
Scherzer,  Dr.  Carl:  Travels  in  the  Free  States  of  Central 
America.  1857. 

Scherzer,  Dr.  Carl,  and  Dr.  Moritz  Wagner:  Die  Republik 
Costa  Rica.  1856. 

Squier,  E.  G.:  Honduras.  1870. 

Squier,  E.  G.:  Nicaragua:  Its  People,  Scenery  and  Monu- 
ments. 1852. 

Squier,  E.  G.:  Waikna,  or  Adventures  on  the  Mosquito  Shore. 
1856. 

Squier,  E.  G.:  The  States  of  Central  America.  1858. 
Stephens,  John  L.:  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Central  America. 
1841. 

Stephens,  John  L.:  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan.  1843. 
Vincent,  Frank:  In  and  Out  of  Central  America.  1896. 
Waldeck,  Frederick  de:  Voyage  Pittoresque  et  Archeologique 
dans  le  Province  d’Yucatan.  1838. 

Wells,  William  V.:  Explorations  and  Adventures  in  Hon- 
duras. 1857. 

Whetiiam,  J.  W.  Boddam:  Across  Central  America.  1877. 
Winter,  Nevin  O.:  Guatemala  and  Her  People  of  To-day.  1909. 


INDEX 


Acajutla  (Salvador),  105,  247. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  280. 

Agriculture,  14,  29. 

Aguilar,  Jos6  de,  295. 

Alfaro,  Jos6,  168. 

Alfaro,  Tomaso,  107,  291. 

Alger,  Consul,  133,  144. 

Alvarado,  Pedro  de,  57,  59, 
60,  62.  63,  68. 

Amapala,  115,  290. 

Amatitlan,  78. 

American  Club,  19. 

American  Transit  Company, 
168. 

Americanophobla,  25-27. 

Americans,  The,  1,  22,  27,  86, 
100,  142,  168,  170,  212,  232, 
239. 

Antigua,  60,  62-63. 

Area.  12,  101,  105,  115,  302. 

Argentina,  283,  301. 

Arias,  Ricardo,  262. 

Aristocracy,  Landholding,  62, 
70,  92,  111,  199. 

Armies,  11,  26,  38,  41-42,  82- 
83.  106,  139,  202,  225. 

Assassination,  6,  73-74,  80,  87, 
92,  94,  97,  100,  109,  137,  293. 

At6nas,  190,  247. 

Atitlan,  75. 

Aztecs,  The,  2,  24. 

Bananas,  125,  142,  215. 

Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe,  64, 
165. 

Banks,  98,  141,  160,  179,  249. 
(See  Finance.) 

Barillas,  President,  73. 

Barranca  River,  190. 

Barrios,  Juan,  81,  89. 


Barrios,  Pres.  J.  Ruflno,  70- 
73,  80,  84,  175,  267. 

Barrios,  Pres.  Reina,  73. 

Bible  Society,  The,  182,  267. 

BogotA,  256. 

Bonilla,  Pres.  Manuel,  134. 

Bonilla,  Pres.  Policarpo,  134, 
141. 

Brazil,  283,  301. 

British,  The,  21,  167,  279. 

Buchanan,  W.  I.,  294. 

Cabrera,  President,  48,  73-74, 
79,  81,  85,  87,  102,  107,  111, 
134,  244-245,  291,  297. 

Cadets,  Guatemalan,  87. 

Cadets,  Honduran,  138. 

Calabash  tree,  120. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  281. 

California,  168,  171. 

Campo  de  Marte,  81-82. 

Canadians,  The,  13. 

Canal,  Isthmian,  45,  256,  263. 

Canal  Zone,  46,  186,  257. 

Canning,  Prime  Minister, 
279-280. 

Capital,  13,  29,  30,  72,  100, 
181,  305.  (See  Finance.) 

Captains-general,  Spanish,  57, 
66,  68,  116,  275. 

Caribbean,  The,  299. 

Carnegie,  Andrew,  206. 

Carrera,  President,  68-69,  200. 

Cartago,  203,  213. 

Cartago,  Court  of,  135,  137, 
206,  294,  318. 

Catalans,  The,  21. 

Cattle,  15,  121. 

Central  American  Bureau, 
294. 


343 


344 


INDEX 


Central  American  Federation, 
66,  166,  200,  246. 

Central  American  Union,  297. 
Central  American  Union, 
Restoration  of,  73. 

Cerda,  Antonio,  166. 

Cerna,  President,  69. 

Cerrato,  Sefior,  119. 
Champerico,  51. 

Chapultepec,  36,  38. 

Chiapas,  61-62. 

Chile,  283. 

Chileans,  The,  48. 
Chinandega,  158. 

Chinese,  The,  77-78. 

Cholera,  69. 

Church,  The,  10,  40,  60,  62, 
71,  73,  84-85,  102,  188,  201, 
204,  265,  269-270. 
Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  168. 
Clergy,  The,  69,  108. 

Climate,  20,  81,  101,  109,  125, 
129,  300. 

Clubs,  19,  188. 

Coffee,  52-53,  112,  127,  156, 
181,  213-214,  232,  242,  250. 
Colon,  256. 

Comandancias,  52. 
Comandantes,  148,  182. 
Compact  of  Corinto,  290. 
Concessions,  51,  151,  179,  239. 
Conquistadores,  The,  121,  195, 
200. 

Conservatism,  69,  72,  262. 
Constitutions,  38,  66-67,  72, 
169,  273. 

Consuls,  American,  45-46,  52, 
503. 

Convicts,  230. 

Coombs,  Leslie,  244. 

Cfirdoba,  Hernandez  de,  57. 
Corinto,  151. 

Corporations,  9,  29,  142,  168, 
179-181,  209-210,  218,  304. 
Corral,  Ramon,  40. 

C6rtez,  Hernando  de,  58,  165. 
Costa  Rica,  61,  66,  68,  171, 
175,  186-212,  246,  298. 
Costa  Rican  Congress,  209. 
Creel,  Enrique,  294. 

Cruz,  Serapio,  70. 

Cuba,  67,  260,  301. 


Currency,  98,  109,  159,  188, 
243-244. 

Customs,  152,  256.  (See  Tar- 
iffs.) 

D&vila,  Gil  Gonzalez,  61,  162. 
Davila,  President,  111,  137. 
Davis,  Commander,  173. 
Deboyle,  Luis  H.,  180. 

Debts,  National,  245-250. 
Designado,  74. 

Diaz,  Madame,  40-41. 

Diaz,  President,  3-11,  23,  26, 
28-29,  32-33,  35-43,  69,  287. 
Drago  Doctrine,  284. 
Drunkenness,  179. 

Earthquakes,  63,  106. 
Education,  24,  27,  30,  64,  69, 
71,  84,  97,  188,  206,  272. 
Engineers,  Mining,  15. 
Escuelas  Practicas,  80,  84. 
Escuintla,  77. 

Esparta,  190. 

Estrada,  General,  296. 

Fiestas,  100,  142. 

Figueroa,  President,  107,  291. 
Finance,  29,  34,  98,  179,  243- 
253,  261. 

Fincas,  52,  94,  156,  211.  (See 
Haciendas.) 

Fonseca,  Gulf  of,  114. 

Foreign  Bondholders’  Socity, 
245 

French,  The,  21,  26,  150. 
Frijoles,  24. 

Fruits,  78,  132,  191. 

Gallegos,  The,  259. 

Gatun  Lake,  261. 

Germans,  The,  21,  46-48,  77, 
90,  102,  110,  232-233,  264. 
Goethals,  Colonel,  258. 
Gonzalez,  President,  3. 
Gonzalez-Vigez,  President,  203. 
Gorgas,  Dr.  W.  C.,  259,  300. 
Granada,  166,  172. 

Granados,  President,  70. 
Greytown,  167. 

Griswold,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  92. 


INDEX 


345 


Guatemala,  44,  46,  57-101,  111, 
165,  244,  291. 

Guatemala,  Kingdom  of,  57, 
64,  66,  275. 

Guatemala  City,  60,  62,  78-79. 

Guatemala,  University  of,  97. 

Guatemalan  Congress,  93. 

Guzman,  President,  174. 

Haciendas,  22.  24,  52,  61,  64, 
192. 

Hay,  Secretary  of  State,  32, 
256,  289. 

Hayter,  Rev.  Mr.,  268. 

Health  and  Hygiene.  (See 
Sanitation.) 

Herrera,  Salvador,  89. 

Highlands,  75-78,  166,  197. 

Hill,  Rev.  John,  267. 

Hoar,  Senator  George,  274. 

Hollins,  Commander,  290. 

Holy  Alliance,  The.  277. 

Honduras,  57,  66,  73,  88,  111, 
114-143,  174,  245,  291,  295. 

Honduras,  British,  68. 

Hotels,  45,  116,  121,  146,  159, 
190,  240. 


Iguanas,  120. 

Independence  (La  Libertad), 
24,  64,  66,  137. 

Indians,  The,  23-31,  42,  61,  67, 
71.  76-77,  94,  200,  226,  266, 
271. 

Institute,  Pedagogical,  294, 
297. 

Intervention  by  the  United 
States,  135,  137,  168,  173, 
256,  262,  281,  287-289,  292, 
295-296,  303. 

Isthmian  Canal  Commission, 
155. 

Italians,  The,  184,  233,  259. 

Iturbide,  Emperor,  36,  66. 

Izalco,  105. 

Japanese,  The,  30,  48, 103,  105, 
125. 

Jgfes  Politicos,  54-55,  93-94, 
182,  227-228,  256. 

Jefferson,  President,  279. 


Jeffs,  Mr.,  129. 

Jesuits,  The,  6,  71,  175. 

Keith,  Minor  C.,  209. 

Knox,  Secretary  of  State,  289- 
290,  330. 

Labor,  16-17,  60,  215,  244,  258. 
Ladinos,  63,  69,  71,  77,  96. 
Landa,  Bishop,  58-59. 
Language,  2,  19.  64-65,  71,  76. 
La  Libertad,  Port  of,  110. 

La  Union,  115,  147. 

La  Venta,  126. 

Las  Casas,  Bishop,  61. 
Legations,  168,  303. 
Legitimistas,  170  . 

Leon,  166,  175  . 

Liberalism,  68-70,  179,  262, 
270. 

Limantour,  Jos6  Yves,  28,  30, 
34. 

Limantour,  Madame,  41. 
Loans,  Forced,  131,  251.  (See 
Finance.) 

Lowlands,  145,  158. 

Magdalena  Bay,  34. 

Maguey  Plant,  23. 

Malaria,  215. 

Managua,  159. 

Mantequilla,  241. 
Manufactures,  22. 

Manzanilla,  35. 

Mariscal,  Ignacio,  32-34,  41-42. 
Martinez,  President,  174. 
Matagalpa,  156,  175. 
Maximilian,  Emperor,  4. 
Mayas,  58-59,  162. 
Maya-Quich6s,  59. 

Medina,  General,  154,  183. 
Merry,  William  Lawrence, 
215,  287. 

Methodists,  The,  267. 

Mexican  Congress,  10,  37. 
Mexico,  1-43,  59,  66,  250,  286. 
Mexico,  City  of,  12,  18-19,  44, 
58,  60,  203. 

Mexico  for  Mexicans,  23-31. 
Mines,  15,  234,  239. 

Miralda,  General,  224. 
Missionaries,  61,  71,  265-269. 


846 


INDEX 


Molifia,  Oligario,  28. 
Momotombo,  The,  108,  294. 
Money  Changers,  243.  {See 
also  Finance.) 

Monopolies.  ( See  Conces- 
sions.) 

Monroe,  President,  279. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  The,  168, 
184,  277-289,  305,  336. 
Montezuma,  38. 

Montoros,  General,  58-59. 
Mora,  Juan,  201. 

Morals,  154,  182,  265-276,  304. 
Moravians,  The,  268. 

Moraz&n,  Francisco,  67-69, 166, 

200. 

Mormons,  The,  14. 

Mosquito  Coast,  167. 
Mosquitoes,  155,  183,  215. 
Mount  Aguacate,  196. 

Mozos,  94,  120. 

Mules,  120,  124,  131,  190. 

Nacaome  River,  123. 
Nagualas,  The,  59. 

Namizique,  135. 

Namizique,  Battle  of,  229. 
Navigation.  {See  Steamers.) 
New  Orleans  Lottery,  143. 
Nicaragua,  57,  61,  66,  111, 
144-185,  296,  330. 

Nicaragua,  Chief,  163. 
Nicaraguan  Congress,  168, 
176. 

Nicoya,  Chief,  162. 

Oaxacans,  The,  7. 

Obaldia,  President,  262. 

Oil  Fields,  21. 

Orchids,  125. 

Orizun,  Colonel,  138. 

Panama,  City  of,  258. 
Panama,  Republic  of,  257-264. 
Pan-American  Railroad,  55. 
Pan-Americanism,  289. 

Paseo  del  Reforma,  83. 
Passos,  Joaquin,  180. 
Paulding,  Commodore,  174. 
Pearson  and  Son,  41. 

Pelicans,  118. 

Peonage,  16-17,  94. 


Peons,  23-24. 

Peralta,  Don  Carlos,  189. 

Peru,  67. 

Pespire,  121. 

Petgn,  101. 

Philip  II.,  3,  63. 

Philippines,  The,  57,  200,  269, 
274-275. 

Pilgrim  Fathers,  The,  61. 

Plantations,  52,  94,  232.  {See 
Fincas.) 

Populations,  12,  105,  110,  156, 
166,  298,  302. 

Porto  Rico,  260,  301. 

Potter,  Bishop,  274. 

Presbyterians,  The,  267. 

Presidential  Guard,  82. 

Press,  The,  11,  18,  93,  203. 

Prisons,  88,  223. 

Prowe,  Dr.  Herman,  87,  91. 

Puenta  Arenas,  187. 

Puerto  Caballos,  115. 

Puerto  Limon,  209. 

Quezaltenango,  76. 

Railroads,  9,  11,  42,  44,  52-53, 
55,  72,  76,  100,  109,  115,  189, 
194,  219,  245,  247,  298. 

Rains,  The,  51,  119,  126,  187. 

Ramagoza,  Senor,  187. 

Regallado,  President,  106. 

Repartimiento  System,  16,  63- 
64,  70.  {See  Peonage.) 

Resources,  9,  12,  21,  30,  49, 
101,  106,  113,  125,  129,  184, 
186,  217. 

Revolution  as  a Profession, 
222-231. 

Revolutions,  5,  43,  68-70,  107, 
130,  136-137,  166,  168,  174, 
178,  197. 

Reyes,  Bernardo,  40. 

Rivas,  President,  171. 

Rodrigues,  Felipe,  330. 

Roosevelt,  President,  66,  91, 
256-257,  288. 

Root,  Secretary  of  State,  34, 
88,  107,  135,  292,  296. 

Rosario  Mine,  124,  129,  142. 

Rubber,  18,  181,  214. 

Rurales,  4,  40. 


INDEX 


847 


Sabana  Grande,  126. 

Sacasa,  President,  176. 

Salina  Cruz,  35,  44,  46. 
Salvador,  66,  107-113,  175,  247, 
291. 

Salvador  City,  109. 

San  Benito,  49. 

San  Domingo,  190. 

San  Jacinto,  142. 

San  Jos6  de  Costa  Rica,  73, 
172,  186,  203,  291. 

San  Jos6  de  Guatemala,  51, 
103. 

San  Juan  del  Norte,  168,  290. 
San  Juan  del  Sur,  171. 

San  Lorenzo,  117,  145. 
Sanitation,  46-47,  116,  155, 
203,  257,  300. 

Santa  Maria,  75-76,  244. 
Sierra,  President,  134. 

Smith,  Don  Alberto,  127,  144. 
South  America,  281-284,  301. 
Spanish,  The,  21,  24,  57,  65, 
97,  122,  162. 

Spanish  Theatrical  Company, 
45,  104. 

Spies,  90,  92,  137,  229. 
Steamers,  47,  103,  147,  181, 
219,  254. 

Stoll,  Adolphus,  248. 

T&CED8  75 

Taft,  President,  261-262,  289. 
Tajamulxo,  75. 

Tampico,  35. 

Tariffs,  112,  152,  180,  210. 
Taxation,  23,  98,  112,  210. 
Tegucigalpa,  115,  132,  134. 
Tehuantepec,  44-45. 

Teya,  Bishop  of,  71. 


Theaters,  99,  204. 

Tortillas,  18,  24,  125. 

Torture,  87-89,  178,  229. 

Tourists,  240. 

Trade,  21,  30,  112,  203,  237, 
258,  301-302. 

Tramps,  236. 

Treaty  of  Marblehead,  291. 

Treaty  of  Washington,  206, 
307. 

United  Fruit  Company,  209- 
210,  215-221. 

United  States,  10,  66,  90,  173, 
279,  330.  ( See  Americans; 
also  Intervention.) 

Uruguay,  301. 

Vanderbilt,  Commodore,  168. 

Vera  Cruz,  35,  58. 

Vera  Paz,  62. 

Villasenor,  General,  200 

Vlrgen  Bay,  171. 

Volcanoes,  75,  105. 

Walker,  William,  170,  202. 

Wars,  4,  7,  57,  59,  73,  107,  135, 
165,  169,  174,  183,  200,  229, 
291. 

West  Indies,  75,  199. 

Yaquis,  The,  7. 

Yellow  Fever,  46. 

Yucatan,  6,  8,  57. 

Zavala,  President,  175. 

Zelaya,  President,  88,  100, 
102,  107,  111,  134,  154,  161, 
177-185,  196,  247,  290,  295. 

Zollinger,  Oscar,  73. 


Date  Due 


SP  3 0 

Xj 

‘V  - ■■ 

IVl  T L O H { 

